Opposition to ticket office closure plan
Inverclyde Council has responded to a ScotRail consultation on the closure of ticket offices.
The council has highlighted the impact on local staff needing to travel outside the area, the disproportionate impact of closures on Inverclyde compared with other areas and the issue of anti-social behaviour on the railways and stations.
Councillor Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, said: “This is an important consultation and one that has a disproportionate impact on Inverclyde.
“The council’s response to this consultation highlights the issues in Inverclyde and we are calling on ScotRail to change their mind on these closures and reductions in services.
“Our area has already seen rail services reduced in recent years.
“It is crucially important that high quality, reliable and regular public transport options are available to support thriving economies and maintaining our strong links with neighbouring areas.”
More information on the ScotRail ticket office consultation is available at https://www.scotrail.co.uk/scotrail-ticket-office-consultation
The full response issued by the council to the consultation is:
ScotRail Public Consultation Ticket Office Hours – Inverclyde Council Response
Inverclyde Council welcomes the opportunity to respond to the proposed changes to the ticket office hours. From our reading of the consultation, the proposed changes will affect all the ticket offices that are currently staffed within Inverclyde. The consultation proposes to close three further stations within Scotland; two of these (Woodhall and Cartsdyke) are within Inverclyde, thereby affecting Inverclyde disproportionally to the rest of Scotland. Whilst the permanent closures affect Inverclyde, the proposals also extend to the reduction in the opening hours of the offices at a number of stations within Inverclyde, including our key towns’ stations. Our calculations show a 422 hour decrease in opening hours per week across Inverclyde.
As a local authority area with high levels of deprivation and an aging population, the efficiency of public transport is vital to support the social and economic activity and recovery of our community.
There are a number of broader impacts with the closure of these offices which will affect Inverclyde that we feel require to be highlighted:
The Elderly and People with Disabilities
As mentioned, Inverclyde has a growing elderly population. The proposed changes to the offices will mean that there will no longer be any staff present at the proposed closed stations, or out with the proposed opening hours at all the stations within Inverclyde. For our elderly and disabled population this is a cause for concern.
Booking offices offer a range of support from verbal confirmation of train schedules; support with boarding trains, shelter on rainy/cold days, and conversation with staff etc. Certain disabilities will mean that some of our population cannot use the app; electronic boards or ticket machines at stations. This indirectly excludes them from being able to efficiently navigate the train service, where once they could ask the staff at the station. People who are not physically able need assistance actually boarding and disembarking the train, however the proposed changes will take staff away from stations and rule this out as a possibility.
We would request a copy of the Equality Impact Assessment that we expect ScotRail have carried out as part of this consultation.
Station Safety and Antisocial Behaviour
The general presence of that staff mean that they can make sure that there are no health and safety obstacles and that the train users are safe at the station. Staff presence also provides the station with some security when there is anti-social behaviour. Whilst we acknowledge that staff who currently work at the staffed stations largely provide a reporting service for incidents which occur, as opposed to a direct intervention function, but they do provide a significant element of public reassurance.
Within Inverclyde, there have been ongoing concerns with antisocial behaviour related to train stations and train travel. Large-scale youth gatherings (LSYG) have been a regular reported issue since first being identified in the summer of 2015.
The 5 year trend data for reported incidents on both train lines covering the pre-Covid period 2015 to 2019 confirms that Friday & Saturday evenings are peak days and times for reported incidents to Police Scotland and Inverclyde Council’s Community Wardens. This is further supported by similar trend data at locations of large-scale gatherings which are accessed by both local train lines, e.g. Inverkip Beach and Coves Reservoir. The times of reports largely reflect the movement of young people to and from areas in the early and late evening.
Since the staggered reduction and re-introduction of Covid based restrictions in 2020 and 2021 the trend data suggests a slight flattening of the weekend peaks and a slight increase of reported incidents across the week, particularly in the Port Glasgow Town Centre area and Port Glasgow Train Station. The reported incidents at Port Glasgow and Gourock train stations largely occur in the early and late evenings and it is noted that this is the period of time affected by the proposal. It is proposed that staffing at Port Glasgow Station will end at 6pm Mon-Thurs., 7pm on Friday and 7.30pm on Saturday, this is significant reduction from the current 12am end for staffing at that station.
There has also been an increase in reported incidents at Gourock Train Station and linked Ferry Terminal. It is proposed that staffing at Gourock Station will end at 4.30pm Mon-Thurs., 7.15pm on Friday and 6.30pm on Saturday, this is a significant reduction from the current 11.40pm end for staffing at that station.
Impact on the Inverclyde Economy
Whilst ScotRail have advised that there will be no job losses and staff will be relocated, local staff will now have to travel to a new station that will more than likely be out of the Inverclyde area. This may not be suitable for some staff for personal and family reasons and may result in them having to seek new employment.
Inverclyde is one of the areas within Scotland undergoing depopulation and a real focus locally is to attract people to live and work within Inverclyde. We are concerned that any changes to the rail infrastructure will hamper this approach.
Climate Change
The importance of reaching net-zero could not be more important and public transport is a route to this. However, these cuts to service and opening hours may impact as this makes an alternative to cars more difficult for local people.
Tourism
Through the ‘Discover Inverclyde’ initiative, Inverclyde Council and its partners are publicising Inverclyde as a place to visit and in addition, Greenock is the hub for cruise ship travel. Many visitors to Inverclyde use the rail infrastructure to travel to and from the area and having less ticket office manned will have a detrimental effect on visitors requiring information, support etc. at key stations.
We thank ScotRail for the opportunity to respond to these proposed changes and we hope that our concerns are taken on board as these changes will have a detrimental and disproportionate impact on Inverclyde.