“Cashless” Southeastern Railway - A Public Transport Scandal!

Our Chair, Ron Delnevo, was on Radio Kent at 7.20AM on 12 August, talking to Anna Cookson about the disgraceful decision of Southeastern Railway to impose “cashless” parking on Railway Stations in Kent.

Let’s hope Steve White, MD of Southeastern Railway, got the wake up call! Steve takes over £1 million EVERY day in taxpayers subsidy and then goes completely off the rails with a decision like this?

UNACCEPTABLE.

The Payment Choice Alliance has written to Louise Haigh MP, the new Secretary of State for Transport, asking that she intervene to stop any UK Railway Station imposing “cashless”.

Last year, the previous government ordered that Railway Station Ticket Offices be kept open so that the public could choose to use cash for ticket purchase. Which is pointless, if the same public can’t park at stations because their cash is not accepted in the car parks! Surely we will see some joined-up thinking from Louise Haigh MP on this, leading to the banning of “cashless”?

Using apps should be an option; they should not become a required “passport” to use public transport, which is so heavily subsidised by British taxpayers.

10 million British adults do NOT own expensive Smartphones- and even many who do have them do not WANT to use payment apps. Why should they be forced to so do so, particularly to use a public service?

Louise Haigh is not the only government minister likely to take a keen interest in this. Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister and Communities Minister, is bound to be concerned to see the attempted imposition of “cashless” in communities around the UK. Especially when train operators like Southeastern Railway are taking huge subsidies from British taxpayers to deliver basic services supposed to be for everyone, such as public transport.

We await URGENT action from the new government…

Listen Here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0jc44q5