Greenfield station ticket office closure plans - public urged to have their say

Saddleworth Labour has urged locals to make sure they have their say on the Greenfield train station ticket office closure proposals by next Friday (July 21).

On July 5, the Rail Delivery Group confirmed plans to move staff out of ticket offices and into stations, with the consultation on these significant changes to last just 21 days.

At Greenfield station the ticket office, which is currently open weekdays 6.30am to 2.25pm and Saturdays 7.45am to 3.20pm, will close.

The station will be staffed weekdays 7 to 9am and on Saturdays, 9 to 11am.

This proposal is set to affect Greenfield station users, mostly Saddleworth residents, and the staff currently employed at the station.

Nationally, one in nine tickets are still sold at physical ticket offices.

That represents over 150 million of the 1.4 billion rail journeys recorded over the past year.

Many of those passengers relying on ticket offices will be elderly and disabled rail users that may otherwise struggle to use digital alternatives.

Research by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has found that only 3% of people with sight loss said they could use a ticket vending machine without problems, and 58% said it was impossible.

Saddleworth Labour is now urging residents to have their say on this proposed cut to traveller support.

Each rail company is running its own consultation – Northern for Greenfield.

The TUC’s campaign website includes a suggested response and provides a direct link to respond here

Greenfield resident David Black said: “I rely on public transport and I always get a lot of help from the Greenfield ticket office staff when I travel.

"They really know their stuff and help to find the cheapest fares.

"Having staff at the station for two hours in the morning can’t possibly provide the same level of service.

"It’s bad enough that half the station is inaccessible for disabled travellers, now there won’t be any help at all for most of the day.

"The consultation ends on July 21 and I urge as many people as possible to respond.”

MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth Debbie Abrahams has also written to the Equality and Human Rights Commission asking it to “investigate why an equalities impact assessment was not undertaken prior to this consultation being launched, and whether these proposals can be recalled given their potential breaches in equality law.

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