► Most
station
ticket
offices
in
England
are
set
to
be
axed


► Union
claims
redundancy
notices
have
been
issued


► Government
accused
of
‘ducking
and
diving’
from
scrutiny

Consultations over proposals
to
close
ticket
offices
at
all
but
the
largest
stations
have
been
launched.
They
will
run
for
21
days.

The
Rail
Delivery
Group
said:
‘The
proposals
would
help
bring
station
retailing
up
to
date
from
the
mid
90s,
when
the
rules
on
how
to
sell
tickets
were
set
and
before
the
invention
of
the
smartphone.
Back
then,
82
per
cent
of
all
tickets
were
sold
at
ticket
offices,
compared
to
just
12
per
cent
on
average
today,
a
downward
trend
which
accelerated
during
the
pandemic.’

It
continued
that
the
proposals
were
‘being
launched
against
the
backdrop
of
long-running
industrial
action
by
rail
unions
RMT
and
ASLEF
over
changes
necessary
to
bring
the
railway
up
to
date
and
make
it
sustainable
in
the
long
term,
with
revenue
continuing
to
languish
at
30
per
cent
below
pre-pandemic
levels.
As
RMT
talks
stalled
due
to
their
refusal
to
put
a
pay
and
jobs
guarantee
offer
to
its
membership,
train
companies
must
now
move
ahead
with
essential
reforms
to
bring
the
industry
in
line
with
the
modern
retailing,
while
maintaining
valuable
staff
contact
for
customers.’

Industrial
unrest
began
more
than
a
year
ago.
ASLEF
is
staging
an
overtime
ban
at
most
English
train
operators
this
week,
and
the
RMT
has
called
three
24-hour
walkouts
later
this
month.

RMT
general
secretary
Mick
Lynch
said:

‘The
decision
to
close
up
to
1,000
ticket
offices
and
to
issue
hundreds
of
redundancy
notices
to
staff
is
a
savage
attack
on
railway
workers,
their
families
and
the
travelling
public.

‘Travellers
will
be
forced
to
rely
on
apps
and
remote
mobile
teams
to
be
available
to
assist
them
rather
than
having
trained
staff
on
stations. This
is
catastrophic
for
elderly,
disabled
and
vulnerable
passengers.

‘The
arrangements
for
ticket
office
opening
hours,
set
out
in
Schedule
17
of
the
Ticketing
and
Settlement
Agreement,
are
the
only
statutory
regulation
of
station
staffing.

‘It
is
crystal
clear
that
the
government
and
train
companies
want
to
tear
up
this
agreement
and
pave
the
way
for
a
massive
de-staffing
of
the
rail
network.

‘Some
of
the
train
operators
issuing
our
members
with
statutory
redundancy
notices
today
are
cutting
two
thirds
of
their
workforce.’

The
RDG
told
Railnews
consultation
letters
have
been
sent
to
union
reps.
It
declined
to
release
the
text
of
the
letters,
but
said:
‘No
redundancy
notices
have
been
served
to
staff.
Alongside
public
consultations,
train
operators
have
issued
a
letter
to
trade
unions
which
opens
consultation
on
managing
the
transition
in
a
way
that
minimises
the
impact
of
the
changes
–
examples
include
moving
to
a
new
multi
skilled
role
and
comprehensive
re-training
and
re-skilling,
staff
moving
to
other
roles
and
the
potential
for
a
voluntary
severance
scheme.
Train
companies
are
committed
to
treating
staff,
who
are
hugely
valued,
fairly
and
will
continue
to
engage
constructively
with
unions
at
a
local
level
to
manage
the
transition.’

Ministers
say
they
want
to
make
station
staff
‘more
visible
and
accessible’,
but
Labour
shadow
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
said:
‘Despite
the
concerns
of
vulnerable
passengers,
Conservative
ministers
are
ducking
and
diving
from
scrutiny.

‘They
refuse
to
say
how
many
stations
have
alternatives
to
ticket
offices,
what
the
impact
will
be
on
jobs,
or
how
it
will
hit
vulnerable
rail
users.

‘The
Conservatives
should
come
clean,
and
give
passengers
the
answers
they
deserve.

‘Railroading
this
decision
in
just
three
weeks,
without
proper
consideration
for
staff
and
vulnerable
passengers,
only
risks
exacerbating
the
managed
decline
of
the
rail
network.’

Passenger
watchdogs
Transport
Focus
and
London
TravelWatch
are
inviting
responses
to
the
plan,
saying:
‘We
will
use
this
feedback
to
formally
respond
to
the
rail
industry
about
the
proposals.’

Transport
Focus
chief
executive
Anthony
Smith
said:
‘It’s
important
for
people
to
have
their
say.
We
urge
passengers
to
look
at
the
proposals
and
tell
us
what
the
ticket
office
changes
might
mean
for
them.
Transport
Focus
will
make
sure
passengers’
views
are
heard.

‘It
is
a
regulatory
requirement
as
part
of
this
process
that
Transport
Focus
and
passengers
are
consulted.
Transport
Focus
will
review
the
impact
of
the
proposed
changes
and
passenger
comments
received
before
responding
to
train
operator
proposals.’ 

The
proposals
will
technically
come
from
individual
train
operators,
but
the government
has
been
collecting
revenue
and
paying
operators’
costs
since
the
Covid-19 pandemic.

Rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
told
the
Commons
on
29
June
that
‘together
with
the
industry
we
want
to
modernise
the
passenger
experience
by
moving
staff
out
from
ticket
offices
to
more
visible
and
accessible
roles
around
the
station.
Staff
will
be
better
placed
to
assist
passengers
who
need
additional
support
and
to
provide
face-to-face
help
in
customer
focused
roles.
To
propose
any
changes
to
the
opening
hours,
or
the
closure
of
ticket
offices,
train
operating
companies
must
follow
the
process
set
out
in
the
Ticketing
and
Settlement
Agreement.’

Which
ticket
offices
might
stay
open?

Some
operators
have
released
details
of
their
intentions.

Avanti
West
Coast said
its
offices
at
some
larger
stations
would
be
kept
‘short-term’
for
passengers
with
complicated
ticket
queries
which
cannot
be
resolved
on
line
or
at
a
ticket
machine.
It
said
these
stations
are
those
managed
by
Network
Rail
at
London
Euston,
Manchester
Piccadilly,
Birmingham
New
Street
and
Glasgow
Central,
where
AWC
runs
the
ticket
offices,
and
also
Preston
and
Carlisle. 

Greater
Anglia

plans
to
open
Customer
Information
Centres
at
London
Liverpool
Street,
Chelmsford,
Colchester,
Ipswich,
Norwich,
Stansted
Airport
and
Cambridge.
Of
the
remaining
47
stations,
some
would
have
changes
to
staffing
hours,
but
no
presently
staffed
station
will
become
unstaffed.

Great
Western
Railway

is
proposing
to
close
all
its
ticket
offices
by
the
end
of
next
year,
including
London
Paddington.
It
has
already
closed
summer-only
ticket
windows
at
Looe,
Newquay
and
St
Ives.

LNER
said
it
proposed
to
maintain
ticket
offices
at Edinburgh,
Newcastle,
York,
Doncaster,
Peterborough
and
London
King’s
Cross,
‘which
will
continue
to
offer
the
same
range
of
products
and
opening
times’.

Southeastern said
it
serves
180
stations,
and
runs
142
ticket
offices.
It
is
proposing
to
open
Travel
Centres
at
its
14
busiest
stations.
The
other
offices
will
close,
but
staff
will
return
to
14
stations
which
are
currently
unstaffed
because
of
vacancies.

West
Midlands
Trains

said
‘all
ticket
offices
in
their
current
form
would
close
over
the
next
three
years’
but
that
it
would
introduce
a
number
of
‘hub
stations’
offering
‘enhanced
retail
facilities
and
customer
support’.
The
‘hubs’
are
proposed
at
Milton
Keynes
Central,
Northampton,
Nuneaton,
Watford
Junction,
Birmingham
Snow
Hill,
Sutton
Coldfield,
University,
Walsall,
Wolverhampton
and
Worcester
Foregate
Street.