The government is proposing to close almost all ticket offices at railway stations, including two in Milton Keynes. In some cases for some of the time they will be replaced by staff roving around the station.
The ticket office closures will adversely affect:
- Older people
- Those with disabilities
- Those with learning difficulties
- Those without bank/credit cards (most ticket machines don’t take cash)
- Those who require assistance
- Those who require ticket types that can not be bought from a machine
- Those who need advice about which ticket type to buy (there are 55 million different tickets available)
- Those who need information about delayed or cancelled trains
- Those who need ticket refunds
- Those who wish to pay by cash (most ticket machines don’t take cash)
- Those in a hurry – it can take a lot of button presses to select the required ticket
- Those unable to use ticket machines
- Those without smart phones or internet access
- Everyone, when the ticket machine isn’t working
Ticket offices at Bletchley and Wolverton, operated by London Northwestern Railway, are planned for closure, and even the one at Euston. MK Central is one of the few stations in the country that will retain a “ticket hub” where passengers can actually speak to a member of staff for advice and ticket purchase.
MKGP’s Alan Francis, himself a former national Transport Speaker for the Green Party said,
“This ridiculous proposal to close almost all station ticket offices comes from the government. They want more people to use the railway but they want to make it harder for people do that. One policy contradicts another! Don’t be fooled into thinking that this proposal comes from the rail industry. It has been forced onto the train companies by the Tory Government, which now effectively controls all train operating companies via the Dept for Transport.
It will make rail travel more difficult for millions of people and prevent some from travelling at all. It is essential that staffed ticket offices are retained. I would encourage everyone to object to it before the deadline of midnight on Wednesday 26th July.”
People can respond to the consultation via
