U-turn saves North Staffordshire rail ticket offices from closure

The Government has announced a U-turn over plans to close the vast majority of railway station ticket including several in Staffordshire. Transport Secretary Mark Harper said train operators have been asked to withdraw the proposals as they “do not meet the high thresholds set by ministers”.

The closures would have affected Stoke, Kidsgrove and Stafford and Burton railway stations, and 15 in Cheshire including its busiest station, Crewe ^[1].

The u-turn came in response to watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch announcing they opposed every single planned closure due to issues such as the impact on accessibility. The plans were brought forward by train operators in July with support from the Government, which has put pressure on the sector to cut costs.

READ: Avanti to cut dozens of trains from Stoke to London and Manchester | The news comes after Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Jo Gideon branded Avanti's level of service as 'totally unacceptable'^[2]

READ: Trains halted and road shut as truck hits railway bridge ^[3] | Engineers and police were called out to City Road in Fenton

In September, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested closing ticket offices was “the right thing for the British public and British taxpayers” as “only one in 10 tickets are sold currently in ticket offices”.

Today, Stoke-on-Trent North MP was among Conservative MPs saying the government had made "the right decision in telling rail operators to save ticket offices".

He said: "I am glad the Government have listened to the calls of my parliamentary colleagues and I, as well as the robust representations of the people of Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke who opposed this.

"We can now focus on investing the £3.5 million into Kidsgrove Railway Station by upgrading the ticket office, creating a new community café and new car park to drive more people back onto the great British railway.”

No figure has been published showing how much money would have been saved with the proposals.

Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: “These shambolic plans have fallen apart under scrutiny.

“The Government failed to come clean on the impact of these proposals for accessibility and job security and now have been forced into a humiliating climbdown, disowning the very proposals ministers championed from the start.”

Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Lynch said the announcement was a “resounding victory” for the campaign against the closures.

He called for “an urgent summit with the Government” to agree “a different route for the rail network that guarantees the future of our ticket offices and station staff jobs”.

Katie Pennick, campaigns manager at accessibility charity Transport for All, said: “While we are proud of the incredible tenacity of disabled people and our community for securing this major campaign victory, the outcome is bittersweet.

“The disastrous and discriminatory proposals should never have been put forward.”

Secretary of State for Transport, The Rt Hon Mark Harper MP, said: “The consultation on ticket offices has now ended, with the Government making clear to the rail industry throughout the process that any resulting proposals must meet a high threshold of serving passengers.

“We have engaged with accessibility groups throughout this process and listened carefully to passengers as well as my colleagues in Parliament. The proposals that have resulted from this process do not meet the high thresholds set by Ministers, and so the Government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals.

“We will continue our work to reform our railways with the expansion of contactless Pay As You Go ticketing, making stations more accessible through our Access for All programme and £350 million funding through our Network North plan to improve accessibility at up to 100 stations.”

References

^{^} closures would have affected Stoke, Kidsgrove and Stafford and Burton railway stations, and 15 in Cheshire including its busiest station, Crewe (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} Avanti to cut dozens of trains from Stoke to London and Manchester (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} Trains halted and road shut as truck hits railway bridge (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
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