To think they shouldn’t close 1,000 rail ticket offices?

[TiredArse]

Latest plan to ‘improve’ the railways. Up to 1,000 will close.

We’ll be left with those shitty, self service machines that are a pain to use on a good day. Got a disability or struggle to use a machine? Tough shit. Got a query? Tough shit.

Does anyone actually believe that the money saved will reduce fares or improve services?

You can fill in the consultation form here - not easy to see, you have to click on the words ‘consultation response form’. https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/train-station-ticket-office-consultation/

Quite a bit on BBC breakfast about this from disabled people, it was also on it local Look East programme last night, there were some protests by the look of it. Good it is highlighted in the news

That is good, the disabled and elderly people I work with will really struggle.

Don’t listen to the media. Closure of the ticket offices does not mean less staff. They’re just bringing them out from behind the desks. No redundancies are planned. There’ll still be plenty of help available for those who need it.

And how easy is it going to be to find help if all you know is that somewhere on the concourse there is a staff member, but you have no idea where?

They’ll be hanging around the machines. Like the ones that currently man the barriers.

They’ll be hanging around the machines. Like the ones that currently man the barriers.

So will they be at the machines or the barriers?

This is such a problem in the London Underground stations already for people who need help. There might be someone at the machine, there might be someone at the barrier. There might be someone anywhere else around the station already helping someone. They may move before you get to them. Not effective.

It absolutely does mean less staff. This is me of the things they are taking strike action over. Job losses.

They have said none, though I accept that is for now and may change later.

What do you do though? Some ticket offices sell one ticket an hour meanwhile the train company has to pay someone else to come from another station to empty the bins and sweep the platform.

Passenger numbers are down, revenues are down. Looks to be a permanent shift. The railways were propped up during the pandemic by the government to the tune of billions - all taxpayer money. They need to find savings. What would you suggest?

Northern's response to someone asking how their mother will be able to travel when staff are removed from Settle station (a barrow crossing provides the only step-free access to one of the platforms) and they were told that she would need to give two hours notice and a taxi might be found.

Withdrawing turn-up-and-go travel where it previously existed is discrimination.

So "most " people can do it what about the
" not most people " ?

Honestly the level of fucking ignorance regarding older, disabled, learning issues is truly awful.

Selfish people only thinking of themselves....I'm fine as I'm one of the "most people "

The media? The media have largely swallowed the government line that it's the operators responsible for this, ignoring that the government have been pulling the strings. You appear to have swallowed the official line too.

Have you actually read the detailed proposals? Staffing hours are being cut at many stations, often to just a few hours per week. Stations will be de facto unstaffed, with toilet and waiting room facilities locked. Staff losses are already happening, a recruitment freeze has been ongoing for some time now, such that ad hoc loss of facilities is commonplace because staff aren't being replaced. This is about cutting staff numbers by stealth.

Don't believe the bullshit about "bringing them out from behind the glass" either. They proposed the same at London Underground, but you can never find staff when you need them - a booking office represents a fixed point of contact where passengers (particularly those who are visually impaired) know that they can find a member of staff. At least London Underground has straightforward ticketing, unlike National Rail.

Even RMT won't deny that some ticket offices don't cover their costs. Do you think that London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly are among them? Because they're for the chop.

When passenger numbers dropped during the pandemic, the German government started offering a 49EUR Deutschlandticket, offering unlimited travel on any regional services. The Austrian government announced an investment programme, as rail is an important part of decarbonisation. The UK government on the other hand appears to be doing its utmost to put passengers off using rail. Passenger numbers have now recovered fully across the UK, yet the government is insisting upon 20% cuts, even though those will be impossible to achieve given that the bulk of the railway's costs are fixed - the only way to achieve them is closing large parts of the network.

@MadamWhiteleigh

They have said none, though I accept that is for now and may change later.

Of course there are to be job losses. How do you see the primary money saving aspect if they are keeping the staff?

What do you do though? Some ticket offices sell one ticket an hour meanwhile the train company has to pay someone else to come from another station to empty the bins and sweep the platform.

Right, but not all ticket offices only sell one ticket an hour, so that pint is void.

Passenger numbers are down, revenues are down. Looks to be a permanent shift. The railways were propped up during the pandemic by the government to the tune of billions - all taxpayer money. They need to find savings. What would you suggest?

It's not down to me to make the suggestions on how to run an effective railway. I will defend the people jobs to the very end though and I'm quite sure if it was your sector under threat you would do the same.

It will just cause a massive decrease in revenue. Ticket fraud will increase as people begin to resent paying for a rubbish service. Disabled people will have fewer options as lifts are only operative when stations are manned.

Like the ones that currently man the barriers? The same ones like at London Victoria who disappear as soon as there's any problems with the trains? Those ones?

Our local ticket office is brilliant, and this is the one thing that I am with the unions on. They should not be getting rid and leaving the elderly and disabled to try and deal with machines which don't work half the time look looking in vain for someone to help.

YANBU. They had paper versions of the form at our local station and DH and I sent one each last week.

Yep. In some places the guard has five minutes between stations. With a booking office to take cash payments from the honest passengers before they board (not to mention sorting out season tickets and answering enquiries), the guard has the time to target the ones who are trying to avoid them.

Already filled in a feedback form. I want the ticket office to stay open.

There's an online petition too that has currently amassed 45k signatures

Businesses can't stay in the past. If most people are buying tickets electronically, what is the point of paying people to work at the ticket offices?

Public sector and publicly subsidised businesses aren't there to make people feel happy, they're there to provide a service to the people that pay for that service. The vast majority of people are capable of using apps if there was no other option but to do so. But as long as you keep providing other options they will resist it because some people will always resist change, learning something new.

Businesses can't stay in the past. If most people are buying tickets electronically, what is the point of paying people to work at the ticket offices?

Looking at the queues of people actually using ticket offices, they are clearly fulfilling a function which machines can't fulfil.

Maybe they could take a cue from cinemas and have the other shops in the station WH Smiths, Costa etc, sell the train tickets instead of having a dedicated ticket office just for that.

Businesses can't stay in the past. If most people are buying tickets electronically, what is the point of paying people to work at the ticket offices?

120,000,000 tickets are still sold by ticket offices each year, including some of the highest value tickets such as annual seasons.

I can't imagine the train companies being willing to shut ticket offices if it's going to cost them 120 million ticket sales. They're clearly confident that if those people have to buy the tickets by other means, they will do so.

It's not going to cost them all of their ticket sales.

It's going to cost them some and for those people they don't care because they will save more than they will lose. I