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Train Ticket office closure consultation

hifinutt

hifinutt

hifinutt
train companies are pressing ahead with plans to close hundreds of station ticket offices across England over the next three years.

Under the proposals, some ticket kiosks would remain in large stations, but elsewhere staff will be on concourses to sell tickets, offer travel advice and help people with accessibility.

The plan has been met with concern from unions and disability groups.

A 21-day public consultation has been launched to collect passengers' views.

Posters have gone up in stations, inviting the public to take part, after which the government will make the final decision on which offices will close.

Currently around three out of every five stations has a ticket office, although some are only staffed part time.

"The ways our customers buy tickets has changed and it's time for the railway to change with them," said Jacqueline Starr chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train companies. She said the changes would be phased in gradually.

Only 12% of tickets were sold at ticket offices last year, she said, with the rest bought online or from vending machines.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66097850

Anyone know how to access this consultation ? we use ticket offices quite a bit . for many reasons , including recently all the automated machines were out of order and unable to print . Also to book reserved seats on trains when yours has just been cancelled
 
Bit of a losing battle this one but there has to be a way for the 12% to still get an alternative solution.

Unfortunately not being online savvy is only going to be more of a disadvantage so this must be tackled.

Perhaps we need a dedicated & adequately manned phone line. I’m 52 & cannot remember the last time I used a ticket office.

Maybe the banks should be tasked with tacking this.
 
hifinutt said:
train companies are pressing ahead with plans to close hundreds of station ticket offices across England over the next three years.

Under the proposals, some ticket kiosks would remain in large stations, but elsewhere staff will be on concourses to sell tickets, offer travel advice and help people with accessibility.

The plan has been met with concern from unions and disability groups.

A 21-day public consultation has been launched to collect passengers' views.

Posters have gone up in stations, inviting the public to take part, after which the government will make the final decision on which offices will close.

Currently around three out of every five stations has a ticket office, although some are only staffed part time.

"The ways our customers buy tickets has changed and it's time for the railway to change with them," said Jacqueline Starr chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train companies. She said the changes would be phased in gradually.

Only 12% of tickets were sold at ticket offices last year, she said, with the rest bought online or from vending machines.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66097850

Anyone know how to access this consultation ? we use ticket offices quite a bit . for many reasons , including recently all the automated machines were out of order and unable to print . Also to book reserved seats on trains when yours has just been cancelled
Click to expand...


thought there was already a thread about this

https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/thr...ticket-offices-to-kick-off-‘in-weeks’.281684/
 
Woodface said:
Bit of a losing battle this one but there has to be a way for the 12% to still get an alternative solution.
Click to expand...

indeed, i agree - our ticket office is rarely open. We have 5 ticket machines including an accessible one, and staff at the gate line will sell tickets. There are always staff on platforms

Woodface said:
I’m 52 & cannot remember the last time I used a ticket office.
Click to expand...

ill be 58 in 2 months, and i cannot remember when i last used a ticket office......
 
I used the ticket office at our main station yesterday as two machines weren't working, the third had a queue, and I was in a hurry. My journey was local and cheap so I'd not bothered trying to book on line which I find can be confusing if only because there are so many ways of doing it!

As it turned out, I could have bought one from the conductor on the train. I think provided you can buy a ticket from staff at the entry gate, on the platform or on the train then that's good enough. Given the choice, I think it's more important to have conductors on train than someone stuck in a ticket office. On my train yesterday there were two wheelchair users who the conductor helped on and off the train and it all seemed to work. I'm not really bothered by the closure of ticket offices.
 
MikeMA said:
As it turned out, I could have bought one from the conductor on the train. I think provided you can buy a ticket from staff at the entry gate, on the platform or on the train then that's good enough. Given the choice, I think it's more important to have conductors on train than someone stuck in a ticket office. On my train yesterday there were two wheelchair users who the conductor helped on and off the train and it all seemed to work. I'm not really bothered by the closure of ticket offices.
Click to expand...

They've been wanting to get rid of staff on trains for ages too
 
A lot of stations don’t have barriers & ones that do should be accessible by use of a credit or debit card. Buying on the train shouldn’t be penalised in terms of cost either. A few sensible measures should mitigate most problems.

I use Trainline, it’s an excellent app but you do pay a small fee. Tickets can be added to phone wallet etc, superb.
 
'I use Trainline, it’s an excellent app but you do pay a small fee. Tickets can be added to phone wallet etc, superb.'

What is superb about paying more than the ticket price for a ticket on a train? This is the definition of the corrupt railway 'system' we have to tolerate.
I've been travelling around Europe by train and what we have here reprents the third world country our politicians have created for themselves and we suck it up. The French wouldn't and I admire them for that.
 
There are plenty of on line rail ticket booking services that do not charge a fee.
 
5 million folk over 65 either have no internet or have no access to it. How does an old -aged buddie get a ticket ?
 
Hmm, I'm on SouthEastern, run by the Gov as its previous Private Owners were scurrilous, financially obtuse fopdoodles.

The open-most-hours ticket office in the village has been shut both times this week I travelled to London. Does not bode well and it seems there's no avenue for me to complain/'be consulted'.
 
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