A coalition of groups have called on the First Minister to scrap proposed cuts to ScotRail ticket offices.
The train operator run by Dutch state-owned railway company Abellio has come under fire over plans to close three ticket offices and slash the opening hours of 120 of 140 others.
ScotRail say that no jobs will be lost by the move and that staff will be redeployed to provide "enhanced customer service" on the frontline, helping to deal with issues such as fare dodging.
The moves come as ScotRail confirmed that ticket vending machines now located at 61 per cent of stations across the network.
The proposals affect nearly all of ScotRail’s managed stations and equate to a cut of around a third of total ticket office hours across the affected stations and come under Scottish Government ownership next month.
Under the consultation stations at Clydebank, Cartsdyke in Greenock and Woodhall, near Port Glasgow, would lose their ticket offices. Station ticket offices at Dalmarnock, Cardross and Wick would be shut at weekends.
On the day that the public consultation over proposals to reduce ticket office opening hours across the ScotRail network closes, a coalition of organisations representing ScotRail workers and passengers, disabled people, environmentalists, women, and pensioners in Scotland have written to the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to call on her Government to scrap the proposed cuts.
The letter, which is signed by unions RMT, Aslef, TSSA, Unite, STUC as well as Disabled People Against Cuts, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Inclusion Scotland, Scottish Pensioners Forum, The Scottish Women’s Convention, We Own It, Bring Back British Rail and Get Glasgow Moving.
It states: “We believe these proposed cuts will worsen passenger service, accessibility, safety and security, and will hinder Scotland’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The letter details concerns around the impact on passenger accessibility and adds: “Already, disabled people are less likely to use the railways, and these substantial cuts would worsen accessibility by significantly reducing the times that disabled and elderly passengers could guarantee that staff will be present at the station.”
The signatories also raise concerns about the impact on passenger service, saying: “The proposals would also lead to a worsening of the quality of services available to passengers at the times when it is proposed the ticket offices will be closed. There are various services provided at the ticket office which are not available at Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs). Unlike ticket offices, TVMs also do not ensure that passengers get the cheapest ticket for their journey.”
The letter also highlights how the proposed cuts are at odds with the Scottish Government’s climate change targets and "will deter passengers from Scotland’s railway at a time when we should be encouraging passengers to switch to rail."
The signatories concluded that: “With just weeks to go until the Scottish Government is running the ScotRail franchise directly in public ownership, we call on you to scrap the proposed cuts to ScotRail ticket offices and instead commit to investing in an affordable, accessible, reliable and properly staffed rail network for Scotland.”
Slashed opening hours at all but ten of ScotRail’s other ticket offices would see those close to Hampden be considerably curtailed.
Glasgow's Queen's Park office will shut at 2.45pm on Mondays to Thursdays instead of 9pm while Mount Florida, which normally closes at 9.10pm on Monday to Friday will finish up 4.45pm on Monday to Thursday and 5.45pm on Fridays.
Ticket offices at Scotland's third busiest station Paisley Gilmour Street which normally shuts at 11.10pm between Monday and Saturday will under the proposals shut at 9.45pm.
And at East Kilbride, the station ticket office will shut at 7.20pm on Monday to Thursdays instead of 11.25pm while at Hamilton Central it is a 4.45pm finish instead of 11.20pm.
ScotRail said that it is proposing the changes to deliver a better level of service for customers and as it looks to "transform the railway following the impact of the pandemic".
The train operation franchise which will be run next year by Scottish Rail Holdings, the state-controlled public body, said that before the pandemic customers were increasingly using online options or ticket vending machines, rather than ticket offices.
It said there had been a 50 per cent drop in the use of ticket offices over the past 10 years, with the pandemic quickening that pace of change.
ScotRail said that the "dramatic shift in customer patterns" prompted a review of the opening hours of ticket offices for the first time since 1991 to see if the needs of customers are still being met.
The assessment has considered where there is a decline in tickets sales at stations, the opportunities that exist to reduce fraudulent travel, and how to increase revenue through more revenue protection teams.
Transport Focus, the independent watchdog for transport users, is conducting the public consultation on behalf of ScotRail seeking the views of customers about the changes proposed.
In March, net zero, climate and transport secretary Michael Matheson said that ScotRail would come under public ownership run through an arm’s-length company controlled by the Scottish Government, declaring that the current system of rail franchising was "no longer fit for purpose”.
The move was to come through "operator of last resort arrangements" after he decided it was not the right time to seek a franchise procurement competition to run Scotland's railways after Abellio ends it control in March, 2022.
It came a year after ministers announced it had stripped Abellio of the franchise three years early in the wake of continuing outcry over service failings and rising costs to the taxpayer.
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