NEWS.CATEGORY: Industrial
TSSA, Neil Bibby, to campaign against ticket office cuts at Paisley Gilmour Street
Rail union TSSA and Neil Bibby MSP will join forces at Paisley Gilmour Street station on Friday 31 January at 10am to oppose ScotRail’s plans to drastically reduce the opening hours of 101 ticket offices.
TSSA activists and Neil Bibby will warn passengers that ScotRail’s plans mean railway ticket office hours will be cut by a whopping 2745 hours a week across the network.
TSSA says that the move will make the railway less safe for women and girls and less accessible for pensioners and passengers with disabilities. Passengers are also likely to pay more for their tickets without the friendly advice of a ticket office worker.
In many stations the loss of ticket office opening hours will also mean more anti-social behaviour.
Similar plans were widely rejected in England in 2023.
TSSA General Secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said, “Ticket office staff do far more than sell tickets—they provide essential support, safety, and accessibility for passengers.
“ScotRail’s proposals will make rail travel harder for pensioners, disabled passengers, and those with learning difficulties, while also increasing risks for women and vulnerable communities."
The union has launched a petition calling on Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop, to direct ScotRail to abandon the reductions in ticket office hours and commit to keeping stations staffed in the future.
Notes to editors
For more information contact Liz Warren-Corney, 07341 737 817
TSSA is an independent trade union for the transport and travel industries. We have thousands of members right across the UK and Ireland, working for the railways and associated companies, as well as ferries, bus services and the travel trade.