'A fight for our communities': Mick Lynch rallies against ticket office closures outside Downing Street

31 August 2023, 22:00 | Updated: 31 August 2023, 22:02

Mick Lynch addressed a crowd of hundreds
Mick Lynch addressed a crowd of hundreds. Picture: Alamy

By Kit Heren

Mick Lynch has held a large rally outside Downing Street to protest against the planned closure of railway ticket offices.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) plans to close nearly every ticket office across England in the coming years in a bid to "modernise customer service", with proposals unveiled in July.

RMT union boss Mr Lynch has slammed the plans, with Thursday marking the last day of consultations.

Mr Lynch, who has become a prominent public figure in recent years amid repeated railway strikes, led a protest rally to Downing Street on Thursday evening to voice displeasure at the planned closures.

Hundreds of people were in attendance, including disabled activists and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mick Lynch
Mick Lynch. Picture: Alamy

Addressing the crowd, Mr Lynch said: "It's a fight for the future of our communities. People up and down this country are sick and tired of their communities being hollowed out.

"Our Post Offices are being closed, our pubs are being closed. Our banks have withdrawn from the High Street.

"Everywhere we go, all the community assets are being hollowed out in the name of profit, in the name of modernisation."

Mr Lynch added that the trade union members will "stand up for themselves".

"We're going to stand up for ourselves, not rely on the professional politicians, and the shysters," he said.

RMT's Mick Lynch brands the decision to close ticket offices nationwide 'unacceptable'

"Let's have a working class movement that serves our interests that serves our people are waiting for our class solidarity. Let's get in before the rain comes.

"There's a storm coming, make sure the Tories feel it."

More than 460,000 people have responded to the proposals, and London TravelWatch and Transport Focus will assess the response to the consultation after it ends on Friday.

Under the plans, nearly all ticket offices could be shut with only the busiest stations left with open person-operated ticket facilities.

There are 1,007 stations in England run by train companies operating under contracts issued by the UK Government.

Hundreds of people opposing the proposed closure of almost 1000 railway ticket offices in England marched to Downing Street today.
Hundreds of people opposing the proposed closure of almost 1000 railway ticket offices in England marched to Downing Street today. Picture: Alamy

Speaking to Andrew Marr in July, Mr Lynch also expressed concern about the closures being a marker of greater "dehumanisation" to come for railway services in the future.

"It’s also about security and the ticket office issue is a bit of a diversion in some ways," he continued.

"We believe in ticket offices. But once they’ve got these regulations out of the way, and the ticket office regulations are the only thing that guarantees station staff in, they will de-staff stations en masse.

"What they’ll put forward is some half-hearted commitments that 'we’ll try to get an assistant to you', but if you’re disabled, if you’re an a elderly person or somebody who's just worried about their journey, there will not be a guaranteed person there.

“In most stations that they’ve gotten away with it already they have completely de-staffed and there’s nobody on them at all.

"And if that’s the entire rail network, we’ve got a very frightening prospect in front of us. They’re now intent on making hundreds if not thousands of redundancies through this method."

He went on: "This is about maximising profits, these train operating companies have made profits throughout the pandemics and throughout the strikes when they subsidise.

"We predicted a year ago and two years ago that they would make this move and it’s not just for ticket office staff, they’re taking away trained dispatch staff, they’re taking customer assistant staff and the mobility people that can drive people around in little buggies.

"It’s a mark of what’s to come. They want to completely strip the railway out and make it dehumanised.”

Posters are being displayed at the vast majority of stations informing passengers about the potential closure of the ticket office.

It is not known how quickly the first sites will close, but the programme is expected to last for three years.

Read more: 'We’ll meet the needs of the next generation': NHS chief hails 75th anniversary but admits challenging future lies ahead

Read more: Boris Becker 'hid horses in his bedroom' to hide them from debt collectors, wife claims

Ticket offices are to be scrapped under the plans to "modernise" stations.
Ticket offices are to be scrapped under the plans to "modernise" stations. Picture: Getty

It comes amid reports the rail industry is under pressure from the Government to save money amid the drop in revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Train companies across England will launch passenger consultations on the ticket office closures.

The RDG said 12% of train tickets are bought from offices at stations, down from 82% in 1995.

Passengers will be asked to pay for journeys by tapping contactless cards on barriers, using self-service machines, or buying tickets from staff on station concourses or trains if possible."

Mick Lynch believes the move is just a marker of further staff redundancies to come.
Mick Lynch believes the move is just a marker of further staff redundancies to come. Picture: Alamy

Rail unions and passenger groups have warned the closures would particularly affect disabled and elderly passengers.

Vivienne Francis, chief social change officer at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), said: "A mass closure of rail ticket offices would have a hugely detrimental impact on blind and partially sighted people's ability to buy tickets, arrange assistance and, critically, travel independently.

"RNIB research shows that only 3% of people with sight loss said they could use a ticket vending machine without problems and 58% said it was impossible."

Neil Middleton, director at pressure group Railfuture, urged the industry to "encourage more self-service but don't force it".

He said: "If this change drives passengers off the trains, then we'll all be worse off.

"Even though there may be a cost saving, if fewer passengers are on the trains it is very easy to see that income will reduce."

RDG chief executive Jacqueline Starr said: "The ways our customers buy tickets has changed and it's time for the railway to change with them.

"With just 12% of tickets being sold from ticket offices last year, and 99% of those transactions being available on TVMs (ticket vending machines) or online, our proposals would mean more staff on hand to give face-to-face help with a much wider range of support, from journey planning, to finding the right ticket and helping those with accessibility needs.

"Our commitment is that we will always treat our staff, who are hugely valued and integral to the experience our customers have on the railway, fairly, with support and extra training to move into new more engaging roles."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

England's Jos Buttler, who has announced he will step down as England's white-ball captain after Saturday's clash with South Africa

Jos Buttler steps down as captain of England’s white-ball cricket team after Champions Trophy exit

Attackers broke into a man's home on Lipson Road, Plymouth, before covering him in acid in a savage assault.

Man doused in acid after savage attackers break into his Plymouth home - as thugs still at large

Gene Hackman with Betsy Arakawa

Chilling 911 call reveals moment distressed caretaker discovers Gene Hackman and wife's body

A police officer holding a suspect in handcuffs.  Focus on the hand and cuffs

25 arrested as part of global crackdown on AI-generated child sex abuse images

Omar Wilson, 31, repeatedly punched and kicked Mussie Imnetu outside a restaurant in west London last summer.

'Monster' who beat 'defenceless' top chef to death during Notting Hill Carnival jailed for 18 years

Riot police officers take cover from molotov cocktails thrown by demonstrators as clashes break out during a rally as part of a general strike called by unions to mark the second anniversary of the country's worst rail tragedy

Protesters throw petrol bombs and police hit back with tear gas as demonstration in Greece descends into violence

Actor Gene Hackman with wife Betsy Arakawa in June 1993. (AP Photo)

Everything we know so far about the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa

Heston Blumenthal

TV chef Heston Blumenthal says wife sectioning him was 'best thing' to happen - as he opens up about bipolar diagnosis

Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Nationwide and First Direct customers are all suffering issues

Major bank apps including Lloyds, Halifax and Nationwide go down sparking payday chaos

Exclusive
Wes Streeting has said the BBC is in a 'terrible mess' over the Gaza documentary

BBC is in 'a terrible mess', says Streeting - as TV bosses apologise for for 'serious flaws' in Gaza documentary

Chef Claudia Lawrence vanished in 2009 in North Yorkshire

Dogwalker 'saw' rucksack of missing chef Claudia Lawrence in tree stump - in bombshell new claim

Rescuers searching for the two missing Russian scuba divers at Verde Island

Tourist found dead with arm ripped off after shark attack - as another diver drowns after losing scuba group

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa

Gene Hackman's wife found 'part-mummified' and 'surrounded by pills' as mystery of reclusive couple's deaths grows

The eruption of Vesuvius caused a man's brain to turn to glass, scientists have said

The eruption of Vesuvius turned a man’s brain into glass - this is how it happened

A pedestrianised Oxford Street at night

Sadiq Khan kicks off process of pedestrianising Oxford Street as he calls for Londoners to have their say

Ring and Mitchell

'We did nothing wrong,' says airline after couple forced to sit next to dead woman for hours on long-haul flight