Island Echo always welcome letters to the editor, which may of course not reflect the views of the publication and its staff.
This letter comes following the announcement that the newly built ticket office at Ryde Esplanade is to close, as previously reported by Island Echo.
Letter to the editor – 13th June 2022
“Dear Editor,
Article continues below this advertisement “Closure of rail ticket offices including the excellent new 1 at Ryde Esplanade would discriminate against sections of the travelling public and restrict freedom of choice for all rail customers.
“Many passengers are unable to book online. People without computers or smartphones would immediately be at a disadvantage, deterred or even prevented from travelling by train.
“All customers would be at a loss without the advice available from ticket office staff. People of all ages, including foreign tourists, need information about the best rail route to take, where to change trains, potential delays, best prices – given clearly by someone who can answer their questions. Ticket machines are no substitute, and full transition to digital ticketing would be a disaster.
“Those elderly people who are unfamiliar with technology, and individuals who are visually impaired or otherwise disabled, would be particularly hard hit by ticket office closures.
“Rail companies including South Western Railway have a duty to provide a proper service to all their customers. Rail bosses and shareholders may regard the words ‘duty’ and ‘service’ as outmoded, but they should not be allowed to turn their backs on these essential principles”.
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Maggie and Peter Gruner, Linda and Paul Martin, Brenda and Phil Michell.
Ryde
perhaps they could start by getting rid of those ridiculous rainbow flags – we are going there to buy tickets, not have LGBTQ rammed down our throats.
companies should stay out of politics and gender debates and remember one thing – they are there to provide a service to all and treat all equally – and that means not showing support for one section of society, whilst ignoring the others – i.e rainbow flags for LGBTQ but nothing whatsoever for the majority heterosexuals. that is blatant favouritism
woke is broke.
It isn’t being rammed down your throat, it’s some bunting up in rail ticket office. Calm down dear.
Companies are well within their rights to show support for events. Many companies put up Christmas decorations at Christmas time, many companies decorated for the King’s coronation, many companies decorate for St George’s day or St Patrick’s day, many companies decorate for the world cup and the olympics. I don’t know what the issue is with any of it? Putting some bunting up for an upcoming event does not mean they have stopped treating all equally.
yes it is being rammed down everyones throats – every where you go it is rainbow this, rainbow that – it is actually damaging the original reason for pride and creating more and more hostility than you realise
the backlash has already begun in parts of the USA and it is beginning in the UK also.
Some rainbow decorations up is something being rammed down your throat? Do you kick up the same fuss at Christmas, the coronation, St George’s day, St Patricks day, the world cup, the Olympics? Do those things also create the same hostility?
The people backlashing are the ones to blame for the backlash. They are the ones making the choice to backlash.
there wouldn’t be a backlash, if you weren’t in everyones faces about it.
The fact that there is an LGBTQ event does not mean that community are being treated favourably. The reason for the event is because that community have suffered years of discrimination and continue to be discriminated against today.
If you wish to set up an event to celebrate heterosexuals having freedom to be who they are in society, then why don’t you go for it?
LGBTQ actively discriminates against heterosexuals by excluding heterosexuals from their group – they bang on about inclusivity, yet do not permit an H for heterosexuals to be included in the acronym.
quite frankly more and more of the majority of society are getting fed up of this “look at me, I am not straight” dogma.
if you want to be seen and treated exactly like everyone else, then act like everyone else and stop going on about it – the heterosexual majority dont sing and dance in the streets about their sexuality – you cannot demand to be treated the same, when you act differently
No two people should be treated exactly the same, because no two people are exactly the same. Equality is about having equal rights, equal opportunities and equal freedoms. Straight people do not get murdered or have hate crimes against them for being straight. Straight people can travel without a fear of being straight. Straight people have never ben jailed for being straight. Straight people have always been allow to legally marry. Straight people aren’t denied medical help for being straight.
The LGBTQ community and the LGBTQ pride events are to raise awareness of discrimination against these people that still happen, and to celebrate the equalities that are gradually happening.
you already have equal rights, equal opportunities and equal freedoms under the law in the UK – so bore off with this endless, look at me, I am not straight parade.
we are not interested in hearing about it – all you are doing is creating hostility by ramming this rainbow crap in everyones faces.
I am straight, I know I have equal rights, equal opportunities and equal freedoms under the law in the UK, and I am not part of an endless, look at me, I am not straight parade.
However, members of the LGBTQ community being murdered and having hate crimes committed against them because of their sexuality is not them having equal freedom, members of the LGBTQ community be unable to travel to certain places because of their sexuality is not them having equal opportunities, and members of the LGBTQ community being denied medical help for being straight is not them having equal rights.
not in this country they aren’t…. why aren’t you protesting in the countries that you speak of then. Disrupting our lives for something that has nothing to do with us at all, just annoys people.
most of the gay people I know, don’t want to be referred to as gay or part of some LGTBQ community – they just want to be treated in exactly the same way heterosexuals are…in other words, sexuality isn’t a consideration when chatting, going out, working etc and just want to be seen as part of the team, group, workplace, family, without feeling any different to everyone else or being treated any differently.
It is happening in this country you wally, and the pride event is not a protest.
Most of the gay people you know don’t need to be referred to as gay or part of the LGBTQ community. I don’t know what you want me to do with that information.
Your lack of education and complete ignorance to what is happening makes this conversation pointless.
no talking – it is your virtue signalling on behalf of a group that you say you are not even part, which is pointless.
joe is correct – there are so many people who are gay, who just cannot stand all this rainbow BS – treat us the same, not differently – is what they say.
perhaps you should get a bit more educated talking and realise that the majority don’t want to hear or see this crap pushed in everyones faces -straights and gays.
And those people can and should be treated the same, they don’t need to be a part of the pride event. No one is arguing that? But there are so many people who love the ‘rainbow BS’ and love to celebrate who they are and having the freedom to be who they are and want to promote that LGBTQ people don’t need to be ashamed and should not be discriminated against. And those people should be allowed to do that.
This idiot Is well aware of that but just loves the attention s/he gets for being special.
Like all these loony professional complainers do these days. Just ignore and laugh at them.
This letter should have been sent to South Western Railway.
I totally agree with you. It seems that the older generation in particular are given absolutely no thought in today’s society. If you can’t do everything online you simply don’t matter. It is discrimination of the worst kind. There is no such thing as “service” anymore either. I am glad that my days will soon be over, so that the younger thoughtless, blaming, generation can get on with their digital society.
We have a selfish spoilt generation of ungrateful superbrats these days.
Careful, you sound like a lonely, bitter old man.
Right, because IOW is such a great place for Gen Z that young people come live here en masse and we are known as “Island of the Young” having no problem with aging population adding more toll to our social care and NHS bill /s
I’m sorry but look in the mirror: your generation allowed and voted for the government that sold railway to private businesses – and those businesses are doing what private business is supposed to do: cut cost, maximise profit, and yes, when they are effectively a monopoly in a specific geographical region: they don’t have to care about the customer. Who could’ve known.
Talk about “thoughtless” and “blaming”, lol. Projecting much.
and the reason they were privatised was because they were so inefficient and costly to the taxpayer under state ownership, that they could no longer keep taking more and more off the taxpayer to pay for them.
Aaaaand somehow other countries manage to do it just fine and have way better train service?
Public transport is not about making a buck. It’s about increasing mobility of the whole country. It aKeats runs ant an deficit. And I say it as a City analyst who is pro-privatisation of everything usually but even I still know public transport and utilities are shite when privatised.
Any organisation who no longer accept Cash will no longer get any of my hard earned cash.
I go elsewhere
How do you pay tax, draw benefits, get your pension paid if you lack a current account.
You only need a debit card to engage?
I don’t lack an Account, I just choose to support businesses who take cash.
If all businesses refuse cash and paying by card or phone will eventually mean
that all of one’s movements are controlled.
Look what happened recently in Canada when the truckers protested,
they had their bank accounts frozen.
Keeping cash is the only way to maintain our freedoms and democracy.
Beauty of accepting cash for work, many builders don’t declare it all.
That small percentage of society and it reduces every year who it is suggested are unable to use the machines are in reality not willing to use them, they do not accept change or modernisation, those ticket sellers would just be moved to the platforms to assist travellers in using the machines.As for visually impaired and disabled travellers, there is a dedicated team at every rail franchaise who by one phone call organise everything for them, all libraries have publicily accessable computers, my father in law is in his 90’s and books everything through the internet.
The machines offer fewer options than the ticket office have access to. For example, the machines will sell you a through ticket that uses the catamaran, but not one using the (cheaper) hovercraft. You have to go to the ticket office for that.
This is not a protest against modernisation – it’s a protest against cost cutting leading to a shoddier service.
If the railway company and ferries were owned publicly then I agree they have a duty to the public. But they are not. They are run to maximise profits and this is a decision they believe will do that. You may not like it but they are not public companies.
I suggest you look into the actual franchise agreements. The operators receive a fixed sum from the DFT for operating the franchise to the agreed specification. All ticket revenue and decisions about ticket office closures is controlled by the DFT.
I just googled and read this
New trains designed by Siemens and scheduled to be introduced from 2025 will have fully driverless capability.
There won’t be any jobs left for people to do at this rate.
Only 10 000+ miles of track, signals and infrastructure to replace then to facilitate driverless operation.
The DLR, part of Thameslink and most of the Tube is “automatic train operation”, but the law states a qualified driver must be carried onboard at all times anyway.
20 years (at least) the world has been connected to the Internet and Computers for work.
HMRC Tax Self Assessment has been online for 15 years.
You have required a bank account to draw a pension for over a decade, so not having an account is not a valid excuse for not being able to use a debit card.
Life long learning.
You’d have to be in your 80’s to have never needed to use a Computer for some kind of work purposes.
The thing holding this island back is people refusing change. Modernise, you owe it to the young, you owe it as a citizen of the United Kingdom
The thing is with the young today.
They only look at things short term. Give up cash and the government will control your spending for you before you can say tick toc and then you will really have something to cry about.
Why would the Govt, or anyone else for that matter honestly care what I spend my money on?
“Government will control your spending”. You’ve got to be some sort of troll/having a laugh? If the government wanted to control our spending then they would do so, cash or no cash. Take that tin foil hat off and calm down.
We must assume that these pro-cash people have suitcases of cash under their beds. Probably ill-gotten gains!
I wholehartedly agree with the above article
Why is everyone on here going on about LBGTbladblah. This article is a serious comment on the loss of ticket offices. Get a grip everyone !!