Why are railway ticket workplaces being closed?
T
rain operators have introduced plans for a mass closure of railway station ticket workplaces.
Here the PA news company solutions 11 key questions on why that is occurring and what the implications will likely be.
– What has been introduced?
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents prepare operators, has unveiled proposals to shut almost all ticket workplaces in England.
– Which ticket workplaces are in danger?
Facilities on the nation’s largest stations – equivalent to London terminals and people serving main metropolis centres – will stay open, however these elsewhere might shut.
– How many stations have ticket workplaces?
There are 1,007 of those in England run by prepare firms working beneath contracts issued by the UK Government.
An extra 759 wouldn’t have a ticket workplace.
– Why are closures being proposed?
The RDG says it needs to modernise customer support.
The business can also be beneath strain from ministers to save cash amid big losses as a result of influence of the coronavirus pandemic.
– What proportion of tickets are purchased from workplaces?
The RDG says the determine has fallen from 24% in 2019 to 12% final yr.
– What would occur to ticket workplace workers beneath the plans?
The RDG says they might be moved on to station platforms and concourses.
It claims this could create a “more visible and accessible staff presence”.
– How will passengers who usually purchase tickets from workplaces pay for journey?
The RDG says 99% of transactions made at workplaces final yr could be made at ticket machines or on-line.
As a part of the adjustments, ticket machines will likely be upgraded and plenty of workers could have handheld gadgets.
– What will occur if a particular ticket can’t be purchased at a station?
The passenger will be capable of purchase one on board the prepare, at a ticket workplace en route, or at their vacation spot, in line with the RDG.
– What has been the response from commerce unions?
They are livid.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) says it’ll “vigorously oppose” the proposals.
The Transport Salaried Staffs Association claims the general public has “no desire to see their rail network diminished in this way”.
– What about different organisations?
Lobby group Railfuture warns the transfer will scale back earnings if it “drives passengers off the trains”.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People says a mass closure of ticket workplaces would have a “hugely detrimental impact” on the flexibility of blind and partially sighted individuals to journey independently.
– What is the Government saying?
It has not commented.