Dear Colleague,

SAVE TICKET OFFICES - IMPORTANT MEMBER UPDATE

In just over two weeks, over 100,000 consultation responses have been sent into the ticket office public consultations, and this is as a result of the fantastic efforts of RMT members to mobilise and get the message out to passengers.

With the exception of Northern trains, all public consultations close on Wednesday 26th July. Therefore, the latest date for sending responses in the post is likely to be Monday 24th July. Therefore from Monday, when handing out leaflets and postcards to passengers, please encourage them to respond electronically to ensure their views are counted. For Northern the consultation closes two days later on the 28th July so any postcards which reach Transport Focus by this date will count towards this consultation.

In addition, one of the two passenger watchdogs, London Travelwatch has now set up an email address to enable people to object to all ticket office closures within their remit, rather than responding for each company. There are around 400 ticket offices at risk of closure under the remit of London Travelwatch which includes London and much of the surrounding commuter belt.

Even if you have responded to the company specific consultations, please also respond to object to all closures in the London Travelwatch area and ask colleagues, passengers and others to do the same. You can respond online here.

We have asked Transport Focus which is overseeing the other consultations if it will provide an equivalent option for its ticket offices and will advise members on any updates.

With just 6 days to go until the consultations close, we need all members to continue doing all they can to oppose these cuts and ensure that as many people as possible respond to the consultations.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Lynch
General Secretary