Rail companies plan mass closure of ticket offices to ‘modernise’ railway

Train companies have announced plans to close hundreds of station ticket offices across England over the next three years.

Under the proposals some ticket kiosks will remain in larger stations, but the Rail Delivery Group claims ticket office staff will be transitioned to “customer help” roles, giving advice and supporting customers with accessibility needs.

Around three out of five stations currently have a ticket office.

The move, pushed by the government to save costs, was confirmed on Wednesday July 5.

There are concerns that the move could lead to job losses, and put some vulnerable passengers such as those who are disabled or elderly off train travel.

While train operators said there were no redundancy notices, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch called it a “savage attack” on railway workers.

"The decision to close up to 1,000 ticket offices and to issue hundreds of redundancy notices to staff is a savage attack on railway workers, their families and the travelling public,” he said. "Travellers will be forced to rely on apps and remote mobile teams to be available to assist them rather than having trained staff on stations. This is catastrophic for elderly, disabled and vulnerable passengers trying to access the rail network.

"RMT is mounting a strong industrial, and political campaign to resist ticket office closures and station staff cuts. And we will continue our fight on July 20, 22 and 29 when 20,000 railway workers on the train operators go on strike.”

Vivienne Francis, chief social change officer at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), said: “A mass closure of rail ticket offices would have a hugely detrimental impact on blind and partially sighted people’s ability to buy tickets, arrange assistance and, critically, travel independently. RNIB research shows that only 3% of people with sight loss said they could use a ticket vending machine without problems and 58% said it was impossible.

“The Government claims it wants to ‘bring staff out from behind the glass’ but in truth, it risks leaving blind and partially sighted people behind a new barrier.”

Jacqueline Starr, Rail Delivery Group chief executive, said: “The ways our customers buy tickets has changed and it’s time for the railway to change with them. With just 12% of tickets being sold from ticket offices last year, and 99% of those transactions being available on TVMs or online, our proposals would mean more staff on hand on to give face to face help with a much wider range of support, from journey planning, to finding the right ticket and helping those with accessibility needs.

She said firms were committed to treat staff “fairly, with support and extra training to move into new more engaging roles” and understood that customers had differing needs, adding that the industry “widely sought the views of accessibility and passenger groups when creating these proposals, and will continue through the consultation”.

The Department for Transport said the proposals were not about cutting jobs, but about modernising the railway to make sure the sector survived.

Last week Transport for London Commissioner Andy Lord said TfL was not planning any redundancies.

“We continue to talk to all our trade unions around modernisation and the need to deliver greater efficiency,” he told LondonWorld. “There are no redundancies planned at any of these negotiations.”

A 21 day public consultation run by independent watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch has been launched to collect passengers views.

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