Downing Street

A group of Coalition Members will travel to Number 10 today to hand in a petition against the proposed changes to train travel

The proposed changes include closing all ticket offices down, reducing staff and removing all guards (also known as train managers or conductors) on trains.

Removing staff from stations and removing all guards from trains will make all train journeys unsafe and very stressful for blind, visually impaired, disabled and vulnerable train passengers. Without manned stations and guards on trains, Disabled people will no longer be able to travel independently, leading to greater isolation in the disabled community.

Disabled people should be able to travel at any time and not have the stress of worrying about what will happen at the start and end of their journeys or when they have to transfer to another train.

There are currently approximately 260,000 disabled people in Surrey.

The disabilities included in the above figure cover a wide spectrum – varying from people  who have a physical disability, those who are Deaf, hard of hearing, blind, partially sighted or who have a dual sensory loss,  people with a learning disability, neurodiversity,  and/or mental illness/mental ill-health and those with a long term health condition with an impact that fits the legal definition of a disability.

In addition, these proposed changes will have a huge detrimental impact on those that do not have access to the internet.

We know that there are approximately 200,000 people digitally excluded in Surrey. Certain groups are more likely to be digitally excluded than others. The main factors that influence the digital divide in the UK include age, region, socioeconomic status, the wider determinants of health and whether a person has a disability. (Source: Home | Surrey-i (surreyi.gov.uk))

75% of 18-24 year olds with a mental health condition also have one or more other impairments, are typically associated with lower levels of digital skills.

Nikki Roberts, CEO, Surrey Coalition of Disabled People ‘It is totally unacceptable that disabled train passengers, may be facing having no railway staff at the stations to ask for help, to purchase tickets, for advice, and to meet their safety, security and accessibility needs. We strongly ask for reconsideration of the proposals as a matter of urgency’

We’re supporting National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK) petition to request the following:

1: For all ticket offices to remain open and all manned stations to remain manned at all times with safe level of staffing
2: For all trains to have guards (also known as train managers or conductors) at all times
3: For all unmanned stations to become manned at all times with safe level of staffing

Clare Burgess, CEO of Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey said “the proposed changes by the government will impact thousands of blind and partially sighted people, and will stop many people from being able to travel around the UK independently.  This will in turn cause social isolation, loneliness and poor mental and physical health outcomes.  A large focus of our work is to arm vision impaired people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to be independent, and these proposed changes are a step in the wrong direction.”