Railway ticket office closures - consultation to 26th July - Forum

Railway ticket office closures - consultation to 26th July

Posted by Alex King on July 13, 2023 at 4:48pm in London-wide news and views

You may have seen in the press that there is a general proposal for the railways all over the country to close the huge majority of station ticket offices, leaving only those at big stations. There's a fairly shortlife consultation going on which ends on the 26th of this month, so if you have anything to say about this, it's worth getting on and doing it now. An explainer about the consultation is here at London TravelWatch who are organising the consultation in the London area on behalf of the railways.

There are a number of links which explain a bit about what the proposals might mean, but a lot of its implications seem to be left pretty vague. Great Northern, who are responsible for Alexandra Palace station have a list of proposed changes which says that 'ticket office hours' as now will be replaced by 'ticket assistance hours' (whatever that may mean) from early morning to late at night. Whether the staff will still be able to help with travel information or odd ticketing questions is not stated.

There is a specific page for the consultation relating to Great Northen here. This then passes you on to London TravelWatch who ask you to email them at gntl.consultation@londontravelwatch.org.uk. But if you would like to make comments about all or several railway companies' closures in the London area you should e-mail them to ticketoffice@londontravelwatch.org.uk.

The RMT has a campaign poster including a form of words for a letter or email here.

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Replies

Susie Holden July 28, 2023 at 11:23am

The consultation on closing about 1,000 ticket offices has been extended over the summer after an outcry from passengers. The deadline has been moved from midnight on Wednesday, July 26, until September 1 - an additional five weeks. Here's an article from the Evening Standard:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/train-ticket-office-closu...

Rail ticket office closure consultation extended after outcry from passengers

Passenger groups said the Department for Transport was ‘spooked’ by the threat of legal action from disability campaigners and mayors including Andy…
Susie Holden July 21, 2023 at 9:57am

This is a terrible move and will make train travel even harder to navigate for very many. We have such a uniquely complex train ticketing system in this country that reducing access to direct advice and assistance will have an immediate negative impact. Ordinary things like getting a train and finding a post office are becoming so difficult now.

And such a narrow window for consultation. It seems like a foregone conclusion and is really depressing. However I will participate in the consultation - let's hope enough of us do and the backlash is huge.

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