Stafford railway station’s ticket office facing closure - how to have your say
A Stafford community leader has urged residents to have their say on plans to close the ticket office at the town’s railway station.
Hundreds of ticket offices face the axe at railway stations across the country – and the proposals have sparked objections and concerns about how older and disabled passengers will access services in the future.
A public consultation is currently underway. It was due to end on Wednesday (July 26), but has now been extended to September 1.
Gillian Pardesi, who represents Stafford as a borough and county councillor, has called on residents to take part. She said: “Stafford station’s ticket office is at threat of closure and this closure would be devastating for passengers in general, particularly for disabled people, older people, people with learning difficulties, those for whom English is not a first language.
“Many vulnerable residents who rely on being able to speak to someone at a station in order to travel have contacted me to say how worried, anxious and unsafe they feel at the prospect of no ticket office staff being available at our station. Some already struggle with technology and even for those that don’t, the ticket machines can be unreliable.
“Rail services should be about people, not profit. The Rail Delivery Group says it wants to “modernise” their service – this actually means depleting the service to increase their profits.
“We all need to fight back to stop any planned closure of station ticket offices. I urge everyone to make their voice heard via the Transport Focus website.”
Avanti West Coast, which manages Stafford’s railway station, is proposing to close ticket office windows. Staff would move into “multi-skilled Customer Ambassador roles”, where they would be able to give advice on fares as well as supporting those with accessibilty needs, such as passengers with reduced mobility.
On Monday (July 24) Stafford Borough Labour Group agreed unanimously to support the RMT and TSSA unions’ protests against the proposed ticket office closures by Avanti West Coast on the West Coast Main Line, and in particular the ticket office at Stafford Railway Station.
Honorary secretary Jack Kemp said: “Members feel such closures would cause a significant worsening of facilities and support offered to disabled, deaf and elderly people, many of whom do not have or use smartphones or the internet. Also the range of products and services available at the ticket offices may not be available from ticket vending machines or remaining staff who were no longer based in ticket offices.
“Many ticket vending machines do not take cash. Given that people on lower incomes and elderly passengers are more likely to use cash, they are more likely to be affected by ticket office closures, requiring the roving staff to undertake transactions out on the platform, which puts these staff and passengers in a more vulnerable situation than if the transactions were carried out in a ticket office.”
The Rail Delivery Group has said that just 12% of rail tickets are sold at ticket offices however, compared to 82% in the mid-1990s. Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “Operators are keen to give more people a chance to give their views on the proposals, so they can bring the railway up to date with dramatic shifts in customer buying habits, while supporting all its customers as the railway evolves and adapts.
“While local plans vary, the aim of the proposals is to bring staff out from behind ticket office windows to offer more help for customers buying tickets and navigating stations. At the same time ticket vending machines are being upgraded to offer a wider range of fares, and we have committed that no customer will have to go out of their way to buy a ticket.”
For more information on the consultation visit https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/train-station-ticket-office-consultation/.
