Rail ticket office closures – Railfuture sets out its hopes for Tuesday
Will Tuesday bring good or bad news for the railway’s passengers? – we have three key hopes.
Transport Focus and London TravelWatch are due to report on the plans to close 974 railway ticket offices (note 1).
Neil Middleton, Railfuture Director who leads on fares and tickets said:
“The mood music seems to be that Transport Focus and London TravelWatch will not support many of the proposals put forward at the Government's behest by the Rail Delivery Group and the train operating companies.
“Those proposals do not protect the many millions of passengers who cannot buy tickets other than at ticket offices (we think there could be as least 70 million purchases a year). We are particularly concerned that, whatever the watchdogs say, having considered the views of over 680,000 respondents, their recommendations may ultimately be rejected by the Secretary of State for Transport.
“And we are not alone in wanting change to the proposals – the House of Commons Transport Select Committee said ‘too far, too fast, towards a situation that risks excluding some passengers from the railway’ – we agree”.
See notes 2 & 3.
Neil went on to say:
“We have three key hopes for Tuesday’s announcements:
- “That there is good recognition that the choice of many passengers (to buy online et al) isn’t realistic for all passengers and that many of those who struggle with self-service options (including ticket vending machines [TVMs]) are vulnerable – digitally excluded, with protected characteristics under Equalities legislation or are neuro diverse.
- “Recognition that staff at stations, including those selling tickets, encourage rail travel – the support and reassurance they provide cause travellers to choose rail for their journeys; each time that occurs, support from the tax payer reduces. So we hope to see that the planned wholescale reductions in station staffing will be turned down and instead station staffing hours will remain similar to now – the initial proposals regularly included plans to reduced staffing hours by more than 50%.
- “Recognition that a key reason for many to buy tickets in person is the complexity of the product being sold. I think the government forgets that buying a rail ticket isn’t like using the self-service lane at a supermarket to buy a can of baked beans. Instead, the intending purchaser must navigate their way through the 2,822 ticket types on National Rail; get it wrong and there are £100 penalty fares, so it really shouldn’t be a surprise that customers want reassurance. We would like to see commitments:
- That it will be improvements to the alternatives first, changes to ticket office arrangements second – not the typical promise of “jam tomorrow”. Changes are needed to self-service purchasing channels such as online and TVMs to make it easier to choose between tickets, and for Pay as you Go (“PAYG”), there to be a best price promise – and much more of it.
- To promise a start on bringing some consistency to rail fares. The talk is always about simplicity, but the real need is for passengers to have predictable and sensible choices on their travel times, the amount of flexibility in their journey etc.
We expand on our hopes in a table at the end of this press release.
Graham Collett, Railfuture’s Accessibility Champion commented:
“In their initial proposals, many train operators proposed that the only option for at station ticket sales would be by ticket vending machines. It will be good news if that is not allowed as many travellers with accessibility needs – eg the blind, the neuro diverse will really struggle. And don’t forget that a TVM is, in essence, a computer, so for the considerable number of people who don't use one in their daily life, using them can be a very real struggle. Perhaps staff can be moved away from the ticket office window, but the practicalities of doing so have yet to be set out in a meaningful way – for instance, so those that have sight challenges can still easily find them. It will be essential that this is dealt with, in detail, on a station by station basis”.
Railfuture will be available for comment on Tuesday and will be active on X/Twitter (twitter.com/Railfuture) and our other social media channels.
Notes to editors
Note 1: The number of 974 is from a Commons Library report. With one exception (Glasgow Central), these are stations in England. The consultation process started on 5 July and was extended on the initial closing date to 1 September. Glasgow Central is an exception as this is operated by Avanti West Coast and thus “in-scope” (LNER are proposing no change for Edinburgh Waverley). It is a government led initiative, implemented through financial controls over the rail industry, represented by the Rail Delivery Group (“RDG”). RDG largely comprises the Train Operating Companies (“TOCs”), which are themselves under the effective control of the Department for Transport commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2023-0180/
Note 2: committees.parliament.uk/committee/153/transport-committee/news/198040/transport-committee-criticises-proposed-rail-ticket-office-closures-as-going-too-far-too-fast/
Note 3: Per the ORR there were 1.45bn journeys in 2022/23. Many Train Operators did not publish suitable statistics during the Consultation, and the ORR data is about journeys, not purchases – but does cover type of ticket. From the journey data we assume each Advance Ticket is one Journey, each flexible ticket is 1.9 journeys (we think most are returns) and a Season ticket covers 25 journeys (which would be less for weeklies, but more for monthlies and annuals). This equates to 73 million purchases given the announced ticket purchase rate of 10%.
Note 4: Modern Railways Expo, 23 November 2022, Milton Keynes: 2,822 ticket types on National Rail, with 901 names and 665 restriction codes.
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Our submissions to Transport Focus and London TravelWatch: www.railfuture.org.uk/Ticket-Offices
Our 12 July press release “The Ticket Office consultation is a mess – 101 unanswered questions with two weeks to go to comment”: www.railfuture.org.uk/Press-Release-12th-July-2023
Our 2 July press release “Ticket Office closures - Penny wise, Pound foolish”: www.railfuture.org.uk/Press-release-2nd-July-2023
Website article on fares reform: www.railfuture.org.uk/article1884-Fares-after-Covid
Railfuture is the UK's leading independent organisation campaigning for better rail services for both passengers and freight.
Railfuture's website can be found at: www.railfuture.org.uk
Follow Railfuture on Twitter: twitter.com/Railfuture
For further information and comment please contact:
Bruce Williamson, media spokesman
Tel: 0117 927 2954 Mobile: 07759 557389
media@railfuture.org.uk
Neil Middleton, Director
Mobile: 07887 628367
neil.middleton@railfuture.org.uk
Railfuture’s 8 key changes that are needed to the plans for ticket offices
In the event of formatting issues, this table is also available as a PDF here
| Issue to be recognised | We want to see | For example | |
| Overall | |||
| 1 | That the July proposals were not a coherent whole – a proper analysis of needs (including, where relevant, the mix of operators at a station) and with data on portions of travellers impacted, and a consequent vision | 1) Assessments at a station – eg Hull, by Trans Pennine Express, ignored the needs of passengers using Northern; 2) there had been no identification of how ticket vending machines need to improve | A proper strategy and a plan for delivering the best use of staff is promised, complete with industry wide and station by station activity |
| 2 | That the low quality and inconsistency of equality impact assessments means that it unclear that everyone’s needs have been properly identified, assessed, and mitigated | A member commented I'm partially sighted and my brain damage makes it difficult to understand new things. I tried once to use the ticket machine. It had no disabled discount (and there was no plan to address these sort of issues) | We want to see both a commitment to a high level approach and a detailed design assessment for each station |
| Ticket Selling | |||
| 3 | That self-service isn’t for everyone – some people are going to need the in-person selling touch for the foreseeable future | The digitally disadvantaged, those with sight challenges, the neuro diverse etc. And separately, those for whom cash is the only option. | That staff will still sell tickets at all stations where this is currently available. Digital first is fine; Digital only isn’t |
| 4 | That the product being sold is extremely complex (and thus it is no wonder that help is wanted) – something that is topped up by the penalties for buying the wrong product being potentially severe | The design of off-peak tickets varies between lines - eg some have a lower weekend fare; others do not. Some have an early evening restriction, others do not | Recognition that fares complexity is a real barrier to self-service and some sign that something is going to be done to address this. |
| 5 | That the self-service alternatives currently aren’t fit for purpose – none of them (Online, ticket vending machines and PAYG) reliably deliver the lowest fares, usability, coverage (eg many TVMs don’t sell Advance tickets, act in a consistent manner, or have the necessary coverage (particularly for PAYG) | Eg St Albans to London has two PAYG options – which is best depends on when you travel. Eg if travelling to London Wednesday 8am, returning 6pm: Use Contactless to London, Thameslink’s KeyGo with registered rail card to return - £21.85; other combinations £24.05 + £24.60 (note A) | Rollout of a Best Price promise and announcement of a plan to improve online and TVMs and to further extend PAYG |
| Staffing at stations | |||
| 6 | That a promise of “we’ll turn up when you ask” is very different to staff being at a station at set, publicised times | The proposal for Boston was for staff to turn up at random, unannounced times | Whilst roving staff have a role, the core approach is station based staff for set, published, hours |
| 7 | That being able to find staff on the station consistently and reliably is essential, particularly for those who are less mobile, including passengers with sight issues and those seeking assistance | It may only be possible to find staff if you are able and willing to search for them – and have the time | Confirmation that all stations will have a set meeting point and either staff that are always present there – or a call button or the like. Trials announced of ticket selling concepts, such as Merseyrail’s MtoGo Shops or a Banking Hub to be located at a station |
| 8 | That lots of people don’t usually need help on stations, but really value staff presence for reassurance, disruptions, and other practical reasons | Eg unlocking (for each use) the toilets at Worksop, providing face to face recommendations during disruption | An understanding that station staff is part of a bigger whole – creating an environment that encourages passengers to use the railway. That properly multi-skilled staff at stations are a real value add and that ticket selling knowledge is a key feature, so existing ticket office staff need to be retained, fully valued and not downgraded |
Note A Prices to London Thameslink stations (ie no underground use)
- £21.85: Contactless to London (£12.30) and Thameslink KeyGo with registered Railcard Anytime Single back to St Albans (£9.55)
- £24.05: Thameslink KeyGo with registered Railcard both directions - £14.50 to London (no Railcard discount); back to St Albans £9.55
- £24.60: Contactless both ways