P-05-716 Free Train Transport for school pupils with Arriva Trains Wales - Correspondence from the Petitioner to the Committee, 05.05.18

To whom it may concern,

At this current moment in time I still hold the viewpoint that train transport to and from Treorchy comprehensive school should become free once again. Although Arriva repeatedly state this charge is for safety reasons and to employ additional staff, I haven’t once seen the staff look attentive when pupils are on the platform and are quite rude to the children waiting behind the barriers, shoving the ‘protective’ barriers in close proximity of the pupils. For those who pay on the day the queue at the ticket office is unbearable with pupils not being able to board the train due to the lines being too long which causes an inconvenience to the parent of these pupils also. In terms of the carriages they are still as full as they were when train transport was free and Arriva have not used the money that they gain from the passes to make sure there are more carriages on for pupils which I would have expected if the money was going to good use.  I find the staff on the platform to be quite rude and do not seem to be concerned about the safety aspects, which might I add is why they are employed. Personally I think that Arriva should consider taking away these passes so that pupils can get to and from school stress free rather than being worried about money, which I am aware is a huge concern with some parents as they cannot afford the passes being issued out. At this moment in time I fail to see how the money from the pupils is helping towards safety aspects where as the barriers are causing more of a safety risk than preventing it and the staff do not seem to be aware of any safety precautions despite that being their job.

Yours sincerely, Elin Tuckwood