Plans to close rail ticket offices in England scrapped

TimeLord1

Good news for elderly disabled and vulnerable passengers. 

Plans to close hundreds of rail ticket offices in England have been scrapped.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the government had asked train operators to withdraw their proposals because they failed to meet high passenger standards.

However, rail bosses were "furious", saying the original plans had been approved by the Department for Transport.

The proposals had sparked concerns from unions and disability groups.

Train companies are under pressure from the government to cut costs. They had argued staff would be better used helping passengers in person, in other areas of the station adding that only 12% of tickets were now bought at station kiosks.

But passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London Travelwatch objected to the proposals, saying they had received 750,000 responses from individuals and organisations in a public consultation.

These included "powerful and passionate concerns" about the potential changes, they said.

The watchdogs said they had secured significant changes, including getting companies to revert to existing times for when staff would be available at many stations.

However, serious concerns remained, including ticket machine capability, accessibility and how passenger assistance and information would be delivered in the future. 

GingerTim

Join a union.

jon81uk

just because someone is elderly doesn’t mean they need to speak to someone sat behind glass. Not sure why you think this is good news for them?

giraffe69

I wonder if, now, the close them (nearly) all plans are abandoned we will get them closing one by one like bank branches? Given that a lot of people buy their tickets online or via machine it is hard to see why the network should be kept exactly as it was. If they can organise it so the machines are working and there is someone to assist those with difficulty or who have questions I'm sure some booking offices should become a thing of the past.

400ixl

TimeLord1 said:

jon81uk said:

just because someone is elderly doesn’t mean they need to speak to someone sat behind glass. Not sure why you think this is good news for them?

It's not just about speaking to a person or buying a ticket it makes people more confident to use the stations if staff are visible rather than a camera recording. So it's also a safeguarding against antisocial behaviour. 

Your point does not hold water.

They wanted to move the staff onto the platforms and concourse which would have achieved what you have stated, not keeping them off the concourse behind counters.

KxMx

Only 1 in 10 tickets are purchased from an office, there is definitely justification to shrink the network but these plans went too far, too quickly and were too vague IMO. 

MilesT6060842

jon81uk said:

just because someone is elderly doesn’t mean they need to speak to someone sat behind glass. Not sure why you think this is good news for them?

Some elderly, and more importantly, some disabled people find it hard to obtain rail tickets in any self service way.  Also tourists.

Furthermore, the presence of staff on a station in a well identified location is helpful to those who need assistance to navigate the station and get on a train.  For example, the provision of visual wayfinding on stations for those with visual impairment varies greatly between stations (many need significant improvement to come anywhere close to modern best practice).

What few commentators/campaigners have mentioned is the total postcode lottery of whether the station is staffed at all.  There needs to be an expansion of places that can sell tickets face to face (in the local community), facilitated by a simplification of train fares, and potentially an pass schemes for the less able (i.e. a all travel modes regional pass for a fixed fee per month or year, with eligibility requirements such as age or disability governing the monthly price, maybe even a weekly or daily scheme), which would mean fewer people would have to buy tickets at the station in the first place (could buy by phone, post or at a local council "Help point" potentially).   

A pass scheme could be a variation of what has started in Germany, the €49 pm "German Ticket" (in English) which allows access to all regional bus and all regional train travel across Germany (that scheme is intended for all, aimed as commuters, but could have different costs/eligibility/durations available in a similar scheme in the UK).  Something to ask your prospective candidates for MP in the next general election

jon81uk

MilesT6060842 said:

jon81uk said:

just because someone is elderly doesn’t mean they need to speak to someone sat behind glass. Not sure why you think this is good news for them?

Some elderly, and more importantly, some disabled people find it hard to obtain rail tickets in any self service way.  Also tourists.

Furthermore, the presence of staff on a station in a well identified location is helpful to those who need assistance to navigate the station and get on a train.  For example, the provision of visual wayfinding on stations for those with visual impairment varies greatly between stations (many need significant improvement to come anywhere close to modern best practice).

What few commentators/campaigners have mentioned is the total postcode lottery of whether the station is staffed at all.  There needs to be an expansion of places that can sell tickets face to face (in the local community), facilitated by a simplification of train fares, and potentially an pass schemes for the less able (i.e. a all travel modes regional pass for a fixed fee per month or year, with eligibility requirements such as age or disability governing the monthly price, maybe even a weekly or daily scheme), which would mean fewer people would have to buy tickets at the station in the first place (could buy by phone, post or at a local council "Help point" potentially).   

A pass scheme could be a variation of what has started in Germany, the €49 pm "German Ticket" (in English) which allows access to all regional bus and all regional train travel across Germany (that scheme is intended for all, aimed as commuters, but could have different costs/eligibility/durations available in a similar scheme in the UK).  Something to ask your prospective candidates for MP in the next general election

Exactly, some elderly people find it hard to use other methods. But the OP stated "good news for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people" whereas as you you say many others would prefer a staff presence in another way and many elderly people happily use e-tickets or similar. The OP seemed to be assuming that all elderly people find ticket offices useful.

Personally as someone who doens't use them, I'd much rather have more staff out and about where they are a visible presence instead of behind glass chatting to each other. Yes it needs to be in a place where the staff are easy to find and approach, but behind the glass of the ticket office makes them less approachable in my opinion.