Almost
30
years
ago,
the
railway
was
fragmented
by
privatisation.
A
nationalised
operator
(with
several
business
sectors)
was
split
into
more
than
100
separate
organisations.
Privatisation
proved
to
be
a
mixed
bag,
and
the
ailing
franchises
were
reconstructed
under
Emergency
Measures
Agreements
in
the
spring
of
2020,
thanks
to
Covid,
when
the
Department
for
Transport
and
the
devolved
governments
shouldered
the
commercial
risk.
In
return,
they
collect
the
revenue
and
meet
the
costs
of
the
passenger
railway.
Franchises
in
England
were
officially
abolished
by
the
DfT
in
September
2020.
(Caledonian
Sleeper
was
still
technically
a
franchise
until
it
was
renationalised
by
the
Scottish
Government
last
month).
The
Welsh
Government
had
already
assumed
control
of
the
former
Wales
&
Borders
franchise,
while
the
Scottish
Government
now
runs
ScotRail.
In
England,
there
is
a
patchwork
of
private
sector
National
Rail
Contracts
and
Direct
Awards,
plus
four
renationalised
operators.
Never,
perhaps,
has
the
railway
been
so
divided,
at
least
in
living
memory.
In
the
meantime,
the
DfT
is
determined
to
reduce
the
costs
of
running
the
passenger
railway
(after
all,
it
does
pay
the
bills),
and
so
the
axe
is
hovering
over
most
ticket
offices,
which,
we
are
told,
are
used
by
barely
more
than
one
passenger
in
ten
these
days.
With
all
the
passenger
operators
now
effectively
under
government
control,
one
way
or
the
other,
you
might
have
expected
Operation
Ticket
Office
to
have
been
launched
consistently
and
logically.
If
so,
you
will
have
been
disappointed.
Although
the
consultation
is
nationwide
within
England,
each
operator
has
publicised
it
differently.
Avanti
West
Coast
(all
ticket
offices
closing)
and
c2c
(most
offices
closing)
have
conscientiously
published
copies
of
the
consultation
posters
for
each
of
their
stations
on
their
websites.
GWR
has
provided
a
long
document,
with
a
page
for
each
station
which
still
has
a
ticket
office.
By
the
end
of
next
year,
GWR
is
proposing
to
close
every
one
of
them.
Other
operators
have
produced
documents
in
various
styles
and
formats,
and
confusion
has
abounded.
Govia
Thameslink
Railway
produced
its
own
all-stations
list,
but
at
least
one
national
newspaper,
struggling
to
make
sense
of
it
all,
labelled
the
complete
GTR
collection
‘Southern’,
which
was
news
for
those
of
us
who
had
never
realised
until
now
that
the
Southern
network
extends
to
Hitchin
and
Bedford.
The
same
newspaper
claimed
that
GWR
was
not
closing
any
offices,
heaven
knows
why.
Perhaps
it
overlooked
that
company’s
document,
which
gives
almost
exhaustive
detail
about
the
types
of
tickets
sold
at
each
station,
and
includes
the
ominous
words
‘Ticket
Office
windows
close’
near
the
bottom
of
every
page.
However,
even
getting
that
far
can
be
a
challenge
in
some
cases.
LNER
probably
takes
the
prize
for
pretending
that
nothing
is
happening,
because
there
is
no
obvious
link
on
its
front
page
to
anything
about
ticket
offices
closing.
The
details
are
hiding
in
a
folder
called
‘our-stations-are-changing’,
but
you
have
to
search
for
it.
When
you
get
to
the
detail
LNER
publishes
its
plans
under
the
descriptive
title
‘Evolving
and
enhancing
our
stations’.
Quite
so.
c2c
is
also
lacking
a
link
on
its
front
page,
and
you
seem
to
be
required
to
click
on
‘Media
enquiries’
and
then
‘latest
news’
before
you
find
a
news
release
headed
‘c2c
calls
for
customer
feedback
on
the
future
of
station
ticket
offices’.
Clear
enough
when
you
get
there,
but
it
is
rather
buried.
At
least
others,
like
South
Western
Railway,
provide
a
link
on
their
front
page.
SWR’s
is
entitled:
‘Station
Change
Proposals:
Modernising
our
retail
offer’,
which
perhaps
needs
a
little
translation
unless
you
have
an
NVQ
in
management
speak.
GWR
prefers
‘Ticket
office
consultation:
have
your
say
on
industry
proposals’,
which
is
still
on
the
shy
side,
while
Avanti
West
Coast
breaks
the
news
with:
‘Public
consultation
launched
on
the
future
of
ticket
retailing’.
(That
means
selling
tickets,
everyone.)
Southeastern
has
a
large
link
on
its
front
page,
labelled
‘Ticket
office
consultation’.
Again,
you
need
to
have
read
the
backstory
before
that
really
makes
sense.
Greater
Anglia
gives
prominence
to
‘Consultation
on
proposed
ticket
office
changes’,
which
gives
the
innocent
passenger
a
bit
more
of
a
clue.
TransPennine
Express
speaks
of
‘Modernising
customer
service
at
stations:
read
our
updates
on
the
proposed
changes
to
staffed
ticket
offices’,
which
might
cause
the
same
innocent
passenger
to
wonder
what
an
unstaffed
ticket
office
would
be
like.
(Shut,
presumably.)
West
Midlands
Railway
doesn’t
beat
about
the
bush,
with
‘Consultation
announcement
–
Proposed
changes
to
ticket
offices’,
while
Govia
Thameslink
Railway
goes
further:
‘Find
out
about
the
proposal
to
move
ticket
office
colleagues
from
behind
ticket
windows
onto
the
station
concourse
and
how
to
take
part
in
the
consultation,’
which
nearly
gives
the
whole
game
away.
There
are
more
questions
to
be
asked,
of
course,
such
as
why
it
should
be
that
Runcorn
East,
on
a
local
line,
is
to
keep
its
ticket
office,
while
the
office
at
nearby
Runcorn,
on
the
West
Coast
Main
Line,
is
closing.
There
are
many
more
mysteries
like
this.
London
Paddington
and
London
Euston
are
losing
their
ticket
offices,
but
little
London
Fenchurch
Street
(by
comparison)
is
not.
A
little
unfairly,
St
Pancras
International
seems
set
to
keep
two
(and
that’s
not
counting
Eurostar).
So
there’s
another
can
of
worms
that
might
bear
inspection,
then,
but
it
will
have
to
wait
until
next
Monday.
