We are opposed to the proposed mass closure of ticket offices and cuts to ticket office hours as these cuts will reduce the accessibility and welcoming nature of the railways. At a time when the focus has been on encouraging the public on to the railways, the closure of ticket offices has the potential to lead to a decline in ridership, particularly in more rural areas. A sensible approach would have been to firstly reform the ticketing system, then look at how the behaviours of passengers change and then look at ticket offices by station categorisation. These proposals will also impact on the supposed plans for local leaders to have a greater say in how their local railways are run through new partnership agreements. the train station does not have a ticket office.

Source: The Times July 19, 2023 11:58 UTC