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.

The RMT has warned that it will stage a ‘week of action’ on the London Underground from 23 to 28 July. Different grades and sections of the staff will strike during those six days, but details of the planned stoppages have not been released. The walkouts are part of the continuing dispute between the RMT and Transport for London over jobs, pensions and working conditions. The union said 600 jobs are at risk, and that ‘London Underground staff stand to be poorer in retirement if TfL's proposed changes go through’. It has also claimed that more stations may be unstaffed and that safety standards are set to be lowered. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘This week of action will shut down the London Underground and show just how important the work of our members is. Plans by TfL to cut 600 jobs and attack our members pensions are simply unacceptable. ‘We are aware that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has had the TfL budget cut. However, he needs to align himself with our union and his London Underground staff in pushing back against the Tory government, exposing their damaging agenda to a key part of London transport infrastructure.’ TfL chief operating officer Glynn Barton said: ‘There are no current proposals to change pension arrangements and, although we are discussing with union colleagues a range of proposals to improve how London Underground operates, no employee will lose their job or be asked to work additional hours.’

 A rail union leader has revealed that train operators have served the first legal warning of redundancies as part of the closures of most station ticket offices in England. The plans, unveiled yesterday, involve many former ticket office staff being given new responsibilities, which could involve working on station concourses to help passengers use ticket machines and answer their questions. Some operators, including Great Western Railway and South Western Railway, plan to close all their ticket offices. Others will provide Travel Centres (Southeastern) or Customer Information Centres (Greater Anglia) at the busiest stations. Most of the changes are expected to have happened by the end of next year. Speaking on BBC Radio Surrey this morning, TSSA interim general secretary Peter Pendle said he had received ‘half a dozen communications from the various train operating companies, South Western Trains and GWR included, both issuing Section 188 notices which is the notice you have to give as a first stage to consult on redundancies’. Railnews has invited the Rail Delivery Group to comment. 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’. Northern is proposing to close 131 ticket offices and change the opening hours at 18. It also operates a further 318 stations which do not have ticket offices. Stations which would retain ticket offices are Barrow-in-Furness, Blackburn, Blackpool North, Bolton, Bradford Interchange, Glossop, Harrogate, Hartlepool, Leeds, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Victoria, Rochdale, St Helens Central, Salford Crescent, Skipton, Warrington Central and Wigan Wallgate. Exceptionally, Hartlepool is presently closed on Sundays, but would open under the new proposals. The opening hours at the other 17 offices will mostly be reduced.   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. South Western Railway is planning to close all its ticket offices.  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 Birmingham Snow Hill, Milton Keynes Central, Northampton, Nuneaton, Sutton Coldfield, University, Walsall, Watford Junction, Wolverhampton and Worcester Foregate Street.

► Most station ticket offices in England are set to be axed ► Union says ‘hundreds’ of 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.’ 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.’

► 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 that no redundancy notices have been issued to staff, but consultation letters have been sent to union reps, and these may refer to ‘jobs at risk’. Railnews has asked for clarification. 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.’

► 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.

Most station ticket offices in England are set to be axed, it has been confirmed. Consultations into proposals to close the offices at all but the largest stations have been launched. They will run for 21 days. The government has been accused of ‘ducking and diving’ from scrutiny. 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.’ Industrial tensions over pay and conditions are continuing. 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. The Rail Delivery Group added 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.’ 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.’

The Department for Transport is reported to be pressing ahead with the closure of most station ticket offices in England. An announcement is expected this morning about the launch of a consultation, but closing the offices seems likely to spark a furious union reaction and add to the present industrial tensions. 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. 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.’ RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has said: ‘The train operating companies and the government must understand that we will vigorously oppose any moves to close ticket offices. ‘We will not meekly sit by and allow thousands of jobs to be sacrificed or see disabled and vulnerable passengers left unable to use the railways as a result.’ Ministers want to axe ticket offices because they are no longer used by most passengers. Ticket purchases will have to be made in other ways, such as from machines or on line, which is already the case in some other European countries, including the Netherlands and Sweden.

Trains have started to call at a new station in the southern suburbs of Exeter this morning, following an opening ceremony attended by transport secretary Mark Harper. Marsh Barton on the Great Western main line is near a park and industrial estate, and is served by trains running between Paignton, Exeter St David’s and Exmouth. The transport secretary visited the station yesterday to declare it open, and while he was in Devon he also visited the site of the nearby Dawlish sea wall, which has now been completed. Mark Harper said: ‘I am delighted to see the completion of these major projects, delivering a Government commitment to improve a vital rail route for passengers in the South West.  ‘These projects demonstrate a Government that is delivering our promises, investing in vital infrastructure and improving transport connections to help grow the economy.’ He was welcomed to Marsh Barton by GWR managing director Mark Hopwood, who said: ‘New stations such as this are vital in bringing the railway closer to people as we become mindful of the need to live and travel more sustainably. Marsh Barton will help to ease congestion on some of Exeter’s busiest roads and offer a more environmentally friendly option for those who normally drive into the area. ‘Marsh Barton is one of three GWR stations to open this year along with Portway Park & Ride in Bristol and Reading Green Park, and we are excited for the benefits these stations will bring to the local economy, to residents, businesses and leisure travellers.’

Train services in England could be cancelled or altered at short notice, because a ban on overtime and rest day working is being staged by the drivers’ union ASLEF from today until Saturday. The restriction is part of the union’s continuing dispute with the industry over pay. The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘Once again we find ourselves with no alternative but to take this action. We have continually come to the negotiating table in good faith, seeking to resolve the dispute. Sadly, it is clear from the actions of both the train operating companies and the government that they do not want an end to the dispute. Their goals appear to be to continue industrial strife and to do down our industry. ‘We don't want to inconvenience the public. We just want to see our members paid fairly during a cost of living crisis when inflation is running at above 10 per cent, and to not see our terms and conditions taken away. ’It's time for the government and the companies to think again and look for a resolution.’ National Rail is warning that problems are most likely on Chiltern Railways, Govia Thameslink Railway (all divisions), Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway (including Island Line) and TransPennine Express. GWR said its sleeper services between London and Cornwall will not run again until Sunday night. Other operators who may be able to provide their full timetables are Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, LNER, Northern, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains. Operators who are not expecting to be affected, including those which are outside the scope of the dispute, are c2c, Caledonian Sleeper, Docklands Light Railway, Glasgow Subway, Grand Central, Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express, Hull Trains, London Overground, London Underground, Lumo, Merseyrail, ScotRail, Transport for Wales and Tyne & Wear Metro. Meanwhile, ASLEF cancelled a strike which it had called for yesterday on Avanti West Coast, after a ‘sick note policy’ was withdrawn. Mick Whelan said: As we have always said, we want to maintain a culture of positive industrial relations. This outcome shows that when management come to the table and understand our members' perspective we are able to resolve issues effectively.’ More serious disruption is expected later in the month, when the RMT stages three 24-hour strikes which will affect the majority of operators in England, on 20, 22 and 29 July.