Railway ticket office closures – have your say

RESIDENTS are being encouraged by Melksham Without Parish Council (MWPC) and local campaigners to take part in a consultation about the closure of railway ticket offices across the country. 

The proposals would see railway ticket offices close as the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) say there has been a “collapse in numbers of people using ticket offices” in recent years, with transactions dropping below 15%.

A consultation is currently live and closes on 1st September, to get people’s views about the subject.

Opposing the closures and highlighting the difficulties this could cause for people who are not confident online, or do not have access to the internet, MWPC clerk Teresa Strange said, “Melksham Without Parish Council oppose the closure of local ticket offices used by residents such as Bradford on Avon, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury, as well as ticket offices in general, as such closures could lead to a further decline in the number of people using trains and subsequently a decline in railways, at a time when people should be encouraged to use public transport during a climate emergency.

“The main concerns of the council are that whilst people can obtain tickets online, not everyone is confident or have access to this option, preferring to use a ticket office or ticket machine. Ticket machines do not always issue the various options available via the ticket office, and often the cheapest ticket offering is not obvious or available from a machine.”

Graham Ellis from the West Wilts Rail Users Group and a Melksham town councillor said, “The majority of rail passengers now use electronic means to self-purchase their tickets – online or through ticket machines at the station. But sales from the ticket office were over 100,000 at Chippenham and over 200,000 at Bath last year, both of which are set to loose their ticket offices.

“Some of those could undoubtedly go electronic – but many of them use the ticket office because they need assistance in working out what ticket they need, because the ticket they need isn’t available from a machine, or because they’re disabled (including physical, mental and sensory) and cannot use a machine.

“Great Western Railway, under orders from the Department for Transport, is planning to close ticket offices at every station in Wiltshire (and almost all others in England) over the next year, with displaced staff invited to roam the station with iPads to help customers. But these iPads will not have the ability to print tickets (nor personalised timetables), nor will the former clerks carry a float to accept cash payment any more.

“Just imagine if you have limited mobility and arrive at Chippenham Station without a ticket. If it’s working, you might be able to use the machine. Or you have to guess which platform the ticket expert is on and how do you find him/her on the platform?

“For the majority of passengers, the new system will work – but until the fare system is simplified and there’s a better system put in place, it’s discriminating against the new, occasional and nervous passenger, and the disabled, and putting up a barrier to rail against the very customers that the industry needs – to grow its users, increase its income and reduce its demands on the taxpayer.

“At a time when we should be encouraging people to be more environmentally friendly, we are giving them an incentive to use private cars, and at a time when we should be encouraging people out of their home for their health, we are pushing them towards staying at home and social exclusion, with the knock-on cost on our health service.”

Public transport and disabilities campaigner David Redgewell said: “We don’t think this is in the interests of passengers, especially passengers with reduced mobility and in need of assistance.”

He said tickets such as half-price fares for wheelchair users were not available at ticket machines, which sold only a limited range.

To have your say by 1st September, visit the consultation via the GWR website, https://www.gwr.com/ haveyoursay