Combined authority mayors and rail users threaten legal action over proposals for train ticket office closures
Rail operators are facing two separate judicial reviews – one from a group of mayors and the other from two disabled train users – over a public consultation on the proposed closure of train station ticket offices across the country.
Train companies each launched their own consultations on 5 July, giving the public 21 days to respond to plans that would see staff move out of ticket offices and onto station platforms, concourses and ticket halls.
The Rail Delivery Group, which is owned by National Rail and brings together passenger and freight rail companies, said the changes would see staff better placed to give advice on journeys and ticket prices and support customers with accessibility needs.
But the consultation, which is still underway, has been met with two legal threats.
The five Labour mayors behind the first challenge argue that the changes could isolate disabled and older people and that the 21-day-long consultation period is "totally inadequate" for plans of this scale.
The mayors threatening legal action are:
- Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham;
- Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin;
- Mayor of Liverpool City-Region, Steve Rotheram;
- Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard; and
- Mayor of Cambridge and Peterborough, Dr Nik Johnson.
Their pre-action protocol letter has been sent to the operators – TransPennine Express, Northern Trains Ltd, LNER, EMR, Thameslink, Greater Anglia and Avanti – and calls for the consultation to be suspended.
Commenting on the legal action, Mayor Burnham said: "This consultation is shambolic and totally inadequate.
"The Government and Train Operating Companies know what they are doing here, they are trying to dress up staff reductions and cost cutting as 'improvements to customer service'.
"What's worse is they are trying to railroad this through by way of a chaotic consultation - that is why we have come together with this legal challenge to suspend the process immediately."
Mayor Brabin said she had "real concerns over the legality of the proposal to shut them down", adding that the proposals raise questions over accessibility, inclusivity, and safety.
The two disabled claimants, Doug Paulley, who is a wheelchair user, and Sarah Leadbetter, who is registered blind, also argue that the 21-day period is too short.
In addition, they claim that the format of the consultation is inaccessible to many disabled people and lacks information about how the changes may affect them.
Further, they claim that the consultation should have been carried out when the proposals were still at a formative stage. Instead, the decision to close ticket offices appears to have already been taken, given statutory redundancy notices have already been issued to staff, the pair claim.
The pair's claim is directed towards the four publicly owned Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and the Transport Secretary. They are being represented by law firm Leigh Day.
Kate Egerton, a senior associate at Leigh Day, said the consultation was "clearly unlawful and not fit for purpose".
Egerton added: "Not only does it fail to provide adequate time for people to respond to one of the biggest changes to our railway network in a generation, it denies a voice to disabled people who rely on ticket office staff for assistance when they travel. The Transport Secretary must now end this inadequate consultation and replace it with a fair process that considers the views of all rail users."
A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: "All train operators are complying with the consultation process as set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement.
"They include proposals which, across the network as a whole, would see more staff on concourses and ticket halls to help passengers than there are today, helping with a whole range of needs, from buying tickets to journey planning and helping with accessibility needs."
Adam Carey
