Rail Travel and public transport

May you please screenshot the story, if you can.

To be honest, it was getting to the stage where online train tickets were to be shoehorned.

May you please screenshot the story, if you can.

To be honest, it was getting to the stage where online train tickets were to be shoehorned.

 I recently came across an article for a charity for the blind, stating that planned removal of all ticket office staff and guards from trains was discriminatory as it meant there would no longer be access to train travel for their members. This does not only apply to those who had a problem with their sight, it is going to affect everyone who is disabled, from those with physical disabilities, to those with  ASD and mental health problems, as this also makes people even more vulnerable to abuse, because there will only be a driver on the train and no one else to assist if anything goes wrong. My son who is twenty two is autistic and relies on the trains to travel to and from university, he often gets in a panic he misses a train or if the train is delayed, or just generally if something changes, if there were was no one on the station and no one on the train for him to turn to goodness knows what might happen to him. He has also be subjected to some verbal and physical abuse and knowing there is someone on the train for him to go to keeps him safe, I cannot imagine what would happen if there was no one there, he will probably come to feeling unsafe and unable to travel and he cannot drive, so what other options does he have? He has almost jumped in front of a train before now simply because he missed his train and got in such a panic he almost ended it there and then, if it hadn’t been for the station staff who witnessed his distress I may have lost him, so the thought of there not being anyone their for him is also horrific for me. In a society where we are supposed to have equal rights these so called improvements to rail efficiency are taking us back to the times when public transport was inaccessible to all. I feel this is discrimination at its worst, particularly as train travel is all that is available to some disabled people because they cannot drive.

It is already noteworthy that the government are forcing train companies to take on agency staff to cover the strikes, none of whom are subjected to the months of rigorous safety training undertaken by guards, before they are allowed to work on the trains. If a driver is ill or injured, or there is an incident on the track, there is no one on the train who can help passengers or lock out the live rail to prevent an accident, because guards do so much more that just check tickets. This is going to affect all the rural lines on the network countrywide. I recently travelled to Wales to see my brother and his family by train, and I could go on line and book assistance for each of my stops which was invaluable to me, but all of this will no longer be available if these changes are forced through because there will be no staff on board and no staff on any stations outside major city stations. As I understand it the rail companies do not want this, it is the government trying to force these changes and they have linked it inextricably to the pay dispute, so if they agree to a pay rise rail staff are basically being forced to sign away their jobs, so more striking is inevitable leading to even more disruption. I feel this needs to be brought to peoples attention as if these changes happen travelling by rail will be virtually impossible to those with disabilities and much more dangerous for all.