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/

This is a very disingenuous process. The consultation Proposals for my local station says:

"Although the ticket office will close, we expect daily visits from mobile staff at the station"

So they're not moving staff from the ticket office to the platforms, we will be completely unstaffed, as will lots of other stations in the vague vicinity. Realistically this will mean one person hopping on and off trains during the day to make "daily visits". And we're not a tiny, unused rural station - it's the only station in a decent-sized town.

100% money saving proposal, with no benefits for anyone except shareholders.

Where I am only one station out of 6 in a row is manned. Never seems to cause an issue.

Things will change, the world is modernising.

It will take away the ability of some elderly and disabled people to travel independently. It’s ageist and disabilist.

What you mean is it doesn't cause you an issue

I’m a pensioner, my bus pass allows me local train travel for half price. Neither the online sites or ticket machines are geared up for that process, I have to buy local tickets from the ticket office.

I had to change to an unmanned station on Sunday. That caused me an issue.

There's a lot of 'I'm all right Jacks' on this thread.

I'm okay - it's fine! type comments.

What about blind train users? How do they find the staff members on the concourse? How do the ticket machines work when you have a complicated journey and can't see the screen?

Selfish lot - shit happens and you may not be able-bodied one day and need assistance.

I've signed a petition questioning this - despite not needing ticket offices, I can see that for others, it's a vital service.

The ' I'm alright Jack ' types are only like this until something actually affects them personally
Then it's ' oh, this isn't good '

I've always brought tickets online or from a machine so this will make no difference to me. I think the majority of people are in this situation.

It's a good idea in theory because anything that automates roles on the railways reduces the impact of future strike action. Hopefully driverless trains will happen fairly soon, at that point the power of the unions will be tempered significantly.

There are obvious concerns though, the main one being the number of automated ticket machines available. A lot of the stations I go through only have one or two, even stations with a lot of passengers at times. The good thing about ticket offices is that the people least capable of using a machine tend to not even try. It would be very easy for a big queue to build up if everyone has to use the machines.

Businesses have to be forward thinking and constantly open to change. Paper tickets soon won't be necessary at all and in the meantime the machines can dispense them.

There probably won’t be many redundancies as they are, in total, short of staff aren’t they? Like most of Western Europe. This is a much the result of a continuing trend of aging population and declining birth rate cross the developed world and the resulting unavailability of labour as it is a short term cost saving exercise surely?

Actually, I’ve just checked and the website for the train company whose app I use (since it stores my tickets in a wallet and I find it easier to use) also doesn’t charge. It looks like it may only be trainline that does.

I agree OP closing ticket offices is not going to improve anything for passengers. IME very little has improved with the invention of self ticketing or the introduction in technology in any customer related field. It just transfers the work onto us. Such as supermarket checkouts. I don’t mind them for a small basket but for a large shopping trolley full, I feel like I should have a staff discount when I use them.
Im now swamped with signing up and filling out forms for everything, QR codes and apps for tickets etc etc and it’s not improving our lives nor has it made it cheaper.

This is the problem though...

The majority will be fine so let's do it?

I worry about the safety of women on unstaffed platforms.

Thanks, I will avoid Trainline in future and go to the individual train company, Trainline is obviously taking advantage of infrequent travellers as that is where they generally go to buy tickets. When I saw it I didn't continue with my order and bought the ticket at the station as it wasn't a special offer or anything just a general day return from Birmingham NEC to the city centre.

Many elderly and disabled people don't use a phone with internet connection. Would be terribly confused by apps. They need the help of an office. I find your post extremely offensive

I must admit that I use a self scanner in the bigger supermarkets that have them and I feel bad about it.
However, I usually need an assistant for some thing to sign off and there are always queues at the checkouts too, so it's not as bad.
I don't think it's taken as many jobs there over the years and at least there is an option available if you don't want to do it yourself or the scanner is playing up. You still see enough assistants around to help people.
It won't be the same at the stations though I'm sure

Anyone who travels outside ticket office hours is on an unstaffed platform anyway, usually one with far fewer members of the public around. Also, smaller less used platforms are already unstaffed.

Also, staff members in a ticket office usually can’t see the platform so wouldn’t be any help anyway.

They shouldn't shut them but they will - its all part of the big de-personalisation of life where computers rule and human interaction is severely restricted. Yes I can see the logic in the business model - don't have to pay for someone to sit behind a window without much to do all day - and yes there will always be people who prefer the no human contact approach - I choose to use the self service machine because I'm a grumpy cow - but its still a very sad state of modern life that society is having the choice to interact taken away and even more, that so many of us prefer it.

Yes, it's fine, however my oldest adult child is now seriously sight impaired i.e. blind, and often requires assistance and my youngest has ASD and requires assistance. Add in others with disabilities, or are older and we really aren't assisting them are we? There will be one person on the concourse where I live probably inundated with people requiring assistance. The people in the ticket office are really helpful and have pointed out cheaper tickets when we have used them, quite often the machine doesn't do that. Yes, it's progress.

@Dotjones yes how dare people strike to protect the terms and conditions they have had for years.

They should just accept whatever the government decides they should 🙄

You won't see driverless trains on high speed routes for many, many years. And when something goes wrong, which unfortunately sometimes it does, you'll wish there was an actual human on board to help you.

It's not just about tickets though - I go to the ticket office if I can't find assistance. There's not always someone at the gate. A machine won't tell me where I change trains

I'm saddened but not surprised. It's the way it's all going, human-less.