Consultations on closure of UK Rail Ticket offices ends

The consultation to review how tickets are sold at stations will close at midnight tonight, Friday 1 September 2023.

All responses will shape final plans so that all passengers are supported as railway retailing is updated for the smartphone era.  The consultation is being coordinated on behalf of the train operators by independent passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch. 

Over the coming weeks, the passenger watchdogs will continue to analyse the train operator proposals and public consultation responses before responding to train operators. As part of the process, train operators have undertaken on-going engagement with accessibility groups.   

40% of the rail network currently operates without a ticket office. In addition to these proposals, the rail industry continues to roll out improvements to ticketing such as pay as you go and single leg pricing, as well as upgrading ticket machines and ensuring more tickets can be sold online. 

Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “Since the introduction of the smartphone, the numbers using ticket offices have dropped to historic lows and that trend is rapidly accelerating. For rail to survive and thrive long-term, like any responsible industry, we need to change and evolve with our customers.

“We wanted to give as many people as possible the opportunity to have their say on the industry proposals. We are extremely grateful to everyone for taking the time to submit their views, and we will work with the passenger watchdogs to incorporate this valuable feedback into our plans.   

“The taxpayer is continuing to subsidise the railway, and we believe that now is the right time to move staff to more flexible, engaging roles so our staff can better support customers face to face with a whole range of needs – from finding the right ticket, to navigating the station and getting support with accessibility needs, while reducing costs to taxpayers.   

“We also understand that some customers have particular challenges and they should be supported in any transition.  Over the coming weeks, we will work closely with passenger watchdogs to review and adapt individual proposals where necessary.” 

However many mayors across the UK are not happy including Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham who have also issued a statement saying:

“The train companies initially tried to push the closure of ticket offices through, under the radar. Together, we made them listen.

“Our legal challenge resulted in the operators extending the consultation process, addressing unfair accessibility issues and producing Equality Impact Assessments which are vital in assessing the plans. This meant that more people were able to have their say on the plans – and may otherwise have remained unheard.

“The law is clear that operators cannot close parts of stations without following the clear procedure set out in the Railways Act 2005. This procedure has still not been followed and the process of our legal challenge with the train firms around this remains ongoing.  

“Closing ticket offices will hit the most vulnerable hardest. At a time when we need more people using the railways, these plans would have the opposite effect.

“All eyes are now on Transport Focus to see how they respond to the hundreds of thousands of responses that we believe they have received. There is still an opportunity here to do the right thing and stop these plans now.

“In the meantime, we stand firm, and we will keep fighting.”