Station ticket office axed in savings bid
A ticket office at a railway station in the Black Country is to be axed as part of cost-cutting measures agreed by transport chiefs.
But another earmarked for closure will remain open with reduced hours. The office at Lye railway station, near Stourbridge, is the only one in the Black Country to be axed.
The changes have been announced by the Department of Transport.
Other ticket offices will be closed at Witton, in Birmingham, Wythall in Worcestershire and Cheddington, Buckinghamshire.
But offices at five stations earmarked for closure by London Midland have been spared – but will operate at reduced hours.
The station at Walsall's Bescot Stadium will keep its ticket office alongside Small Heath, the Jewellery Quarter, Duddeston and Adderley Park. Officials from London Midland said less than half of tickets are now bought across the counter with many passengers opting to purchase online or at vending machines.
And they said at many stations there were periods of the day when few or even no tickets were being bought at ticket offices.
Officials said alongside the changes there would be investment in other stations including an extra 29 ticket vending machines at stations which do not currently have them. Additional shelters will be placed on platforms and there will be more boarding ramps for wheelchair users with lifts kept in operation at all times.
Commercial director at London Midland Richard Brooks said the authority was "pleased" the Department of Transport had accepted the need for it to review its ticket offices.
"The reductions in opening hours will be concentrated at the beginning and end of the day or on Sundays so most passengers will see no change at all," he said.
"We believe the changes we are making strike the right balance," he said.
