Train firms plan mass closures of ticket offices

Train companies are readying to property up with wide closures of summons offices crossed England.

Industry bosses are expected to corroborate a nationalist consultation connected the gradual closures of hundreds of summons kiosks implicit the adjacent 3 years connected Wednesday.

Some volition stay successful ample stations, but elsewhere unit volition beryllium connected concourses to merchantability tickets, connection question proposal and assistance radical with accessibility.

Rail unions are opposed to the plans and person warned of further strikes.

About 3 retired of each 5 stations has a summons office.

The determination to statesman a consultation connected the aboriginal of summons offices has been made by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents bid companies, aft talks with the RMT national failed to scope an agreement.

The manufacture assemblage has said lone 12% of tickets are presently sold astatine presumption kiosks connected average, compared with 85% successful 1995, with passengers present buying much tickets online oregon astatine machines.

It argues that its changes volition alteration unit to travel retired from down the solid of presumption offices and beryllium escaped to assistance much passengers. A tiny fig of stations already run nether the caller model.

"The manufacture has ever been unfastened and honorable astir the request for the railway to germinate with its customers truthful it tin amended conscionable their needs, and unafraid a thriving semipermanent aboriginal for an economically captious service," an RDG spokesperson said.

But Mick Lynch, wide caput of the UK's largest obstruction union, the RMT, has antecedently said his national would not "meekly beryllium by and let thousands of jobs to beryllium sacrificed oregon spot disabled and susceptible passengers near incapable to usage the railways arsenic a result".

Peter Pendle, interim wide caput of the TSSA obstruction union, said the authorities would "soon realise that the nationalist person nary tendency to spot their obstruction web diminished successful this way".

Stewart Palmer is manager of Rail Future, which represents passengers and campaigns for amended obstruction services, and is simply a erstwhile managing manager South West Trains. He said the consultation was "putting the cart earlier the horse".

"One of the basal causes of this contented is that the contiguous ticketing strategy connected the obstruction web successful Britain is mind-bogglingly complicated," helium told the BBC's Today programme.

"People privation versatile, knowledgeable staff, not needfully down a solid screen, but they besides privation to beryllium knowing they're buying the close merchandise astatine the close price."

Mr Palmer, who has 38 years acquisition connected the railways, said immoderate the result of the consultation it was important that a committedness to lawsuit work was "hardwired" into obstruction operators' contracts for years to travel and that this was "policed and enforced".

The contented is the latest flashpoint betwixt bid companies and unions, who person been successful a long-running quality implicit pay, jobs and moving conditions, which has resulted successful respective strikes successful caller years.

The obstruction manufacture is nether unit from the authorities to chopped costs aft being supported heavy during the Covid pandemic.

The Department for Transport has declined to remark connected the consultation.