[News] Plans to close rail ticket offices in England scrapped

[clapham_gull]

wait, so the consultation was actually consultation, and not a predetermined schedule of closures?

Funny that because all the noises coming out of Government supported it including Sunak who said it the "right thing to do".

I wonder whether they found out it would be subjected to legal challenge ?

 

[abc]

It’s good news.

Will we see a lot of unpopular decisions made by the Tory’s being U-Turned as we get closer to a general election?

Totally agree with your sentiment/conclusion in this case. But as a wider debate, wouldn't it be helpful to better outcomes if every time a gov changes its mind they are not condemned for doing a U turn? Surely the job of a democratically elected gov is to listen to the people and if necessary admit they have got something wrong, listen to the people and then change course. If we don't allow them to do this, what's the point of opposition, protest campaigns etc?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Funny that because all the noises coming out of Government supported it including Sunak who said it the "right thing to do".

I wonder whether they found out it would be subjected to legal challenge ?

That’s what I was getting at with the Disability angle.

 

[The Clamp]

Totally agree with your sentiment/conclusion in this case. But as a wider debate, wouldn't it be helpful to better outcomes if every time a gov changes its mind they are not condemned for doing a U turn? Surely the job of a democratically elected gov is to listen to the people and if necessary admit they have got something wrong, listen to the people and then change course. If we don't allow them to do this, what's the point of opposition, protest campaigns etc?

I agree in principle. Very much so.

Not this government. They do it to save their bacon, not help us.

 

[Weststander]

Not everything needs to be rationalised/modernised. Taking it to its extreme, no contact whatsoever with human beings in service industries. Especially for those not tech savvy, needing a bit of support.

 

[vegster]

Good news for many, the ticket machines are complicated and inhuman....so many stations are soulless and empty of staff and scary at night for older and solo women...

 

[nordicgod]

If they actually clamped down on ticket evasion then the government could
Make a fortune in fact enough to employ more people for revenue collection and a healthy profit .
The amount I see every day is amazing , the government are losing a fortune , train operators don’t care as they get paid every month regardless

 

[GT49er]

If they actually clamped down on ticket evasion then the government could
Make a fortune in fact enough to employ more people for revenue collection and a healthy profit .
The amount I see every day is amazing , the government are losing a fortune , train operators don’t care as they get paid every month regardless

Ah - but it's the cost of catching the ticket evaders! And in defence of the TOCs (which sticks in my craw!) it's nothing new. 50 years ago (give or take a few years) some bright spark (probably a bean counter and not a railwayman) made great savings on the then Southern Region - the 'savings' were the wages of Travelling Ticket Collectors, whose job was to travel around on trains all day and collect fares from dodgers.
My uncle was one (Ticket Collector, not a dodger) and he was transferred elsewhere, and the economy drive was a great success. The only fly in the ointment was .that the amount of unpaid fares he collected came to far more than the wages he was paid!

 

[clapham_gull]

Good news for many, the ticket machines are complicated and inhuman....so many stations are soulless and empty of staff and scary at night for older and solo women...

.. and unable in many cases to give the cheapest ticket.

That said the ticketing websites are equally awful.

My biggest beef over the last two years is travelling down to Sussex "peak", paying through the nose for it and there is bugger all people on the train.

Most mornings the only person in the carriage !

Travel on a Sunday and the trains are packed.

 

[zefarelly]

Sanity prevails.

There is no sanity in our governance or 'public' transport.

Makes a pleasant change to see a sensible decision made though.

If only we had a service worthy of using a ticket office.

 

[Brovion]

wait, so the consultation was actually consultation, and not a predetermined schedule of closures?

I think that was the plan, but the opposition was SO intense that they had to backtrack. If it had just been the unions protesting, yeah, it would have have happened 100%. But the Watchdog said it received over 750,000 responses to the consultation, 99% of which were opposed. And as this government is desperate for every little bit of popularity it can garner ...

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Great news (of no action), vulnerable people very much need them. R4 You & Yours covered this in detail.

I hope this is true. Our staff at Faversham are invaluable. There is no way I can buy* an ordinary single and a super off peak return to London, with the 'high speed' upgrade, and a senior rail card discount, for tomorrow, using the ticket machine. After queuing behind 10 people half of whom are also struggling to work out how to get what they want.

*This strange ticket combination is the cheapest way to travel to London and back, leaving before 9.00 pm. It was discovered for me by a clever member of staff. Even other members of staff struggle to get their head around my request. This has been my cheapest option for years.

Oh, and my line was re nationalized after Covid because the French owners trousered the vast sums of money randomly given to them by the **** of a prime minister and his venal gang, ostensibly to tide them over during Covid (not 'means tested'), then promptly f***ed off with the money, no questions asked. Not a lot of people know that.

 

[Uter]

I agree in principle. Very much so.

Not this government. They do it to save their bacon, not help us.

I think they knew it would be an unpopular move, but I suspect the reason for the U turn is they found out it was deeply unpopular with their own supporters and party, which perhaps they had not anticipated.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Up the unions.

 

[W3D]

Not just the vulnerable. Had an issue collecting our rail tickets for Wolves away as the ticket machine wouldn't read the card I'd paid with. Lady at the ticket office sorted it out straight away. We talked about the closures and she did point out to me the irony that offices were being shut because people were buying online, and she'd just fixed a problem with my online tickets.

I'd only got them online because I 'split' them making them a lot cheaper. They can do that too at a manned ticket office. I didn't know but have since bought rail tickets in person where I can.

I think you'll find you don't need to use the card you paid with, any valid card will do ( although the machine tells you to use the one you paid with)

 

[MattBackHome]

Last week the ticket machine at PLD was kyboshed for taking payments so I buzzed through the barrier and got my Carshalton return on the train. Conductor got me a fare around £10 cheaper than what was being shown to me by the robot on the side of the platform. Keep em open.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I think you'll find you don't need to use the card you paid with, any valid card will do ( although the machine tells you to use the one you paid with)

It could be. As I said, the machine couldn't read it.

I lazily got my Forest train ticket on trainline yesterday, however, today I was due to go to London for a meeting, With 60 minute delays due to a signal failure I would never had made it. The ticket office were able to refund it immediately as I (obviously) hadn't started my journey. Don't think the machines do that either.