Cambs MP says ticket office closures ‘inevitable’ but locals deserve …

A Cambridgeshire MP has spoken out about plans to shut more than a thousand train ticket offices in England. Anthony Browne who represents the South Cambridgeshire constituency has told Cambridgeshire Live that while rail ticket offices being shut is “inevitable”, access to best ticket prices should be safeguarded and the vulnerable helped when needed.

It comes as six Labour mayors across the country have said they are taking legal action against a consultation to close the majority of rail ticket offices ^[1] and drastically cut staff available to support passengers across the country. On July 5, the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) announced that the public would have just 21 days to have their say on plans to close almost all of the 1,007 remaining ticket offices in the country.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ^[2] Mayor Dr Nik Johnson has backed the actions against the closure and argued that accessible ticket offices are an essential part of the rail network and that the hasty consultation process is preventing meaningful participation.

Ticket offices could be taken away at train stations across the UK, including Cambridge (Image: Keith Jones)

MP for South Cambridgeshire ^[4] Anthony Browne said: “I fully understand the concern of passengers about the closure of ticket offices planned by the train companies.

“It is inevitable that as more and more people buy train tickets from machines, online or on their phones, the need for ticket offices reduces. But it would be unacceptable for train companies to close offices if this would limit the access that passengers have to the best fares.

“They must ensure that ticket machines and online apps offer the same tickets, prices and services that would have been available at the ticket office. Wherever possible, staff should be retained and deployed on the platform, directly speaking to and helping customers, particularly those who have difficulty using the ticket machines or don’t have internet access. Where that is not possible staff should have the option of redeployment to another site.”

TransPennine Express, Northern Trains Ltd, LNER, EMR, Thameslink, Greater Anglia and Avanti are amongst those planning to close their ticket offices. The mayors are claiming that the type of consultation they are using is inappropriate for changes of this scale, and is being conducted in a chaotic manner.

Of the 467 northern rail stations, 449 have cashless ticket machines. The RDG have stated that 12 per cent of rail ticket transactions are done at ticket offices but within the city region, two million ticket sales are made at ticket offices annually and under these plans those transactions would be forced to move to online.

Speaking on the matter, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Nik Johnson said: “Staffed, accessible ticket offices are an essential part of the rail network and must be protected. We’re making our views known to the train operators, objecting to their proposals for widespread closures.

“We’ve also made clear our concerns that they’ve chosen a consultation process that’s needlessly hasty and risks preventing meaningful participation by those who depend on this vital resource.”

References

^{^} close the majority of rail ticket offices (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
^{^} Peterborough (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
^{^} Fresh calls for Cambridge Congestion Charge to be scrapped (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
^{^} Cambridgeshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
^{^} McDonald’s apologises after staff allege they were sexually harassed (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)