The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) had initially announced plans to close almost all ticket offices at railway stations across England in July. However, the government has now asked train operators to withdraw their proposals in response to opposition from watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch. The opposition was based on concerns about issues such as accessibility.
One train company, Greater Anglia, had confirmed that Norwich’s ticket office would be transformed into a Customer Information Centre. While the company stated that there would be “minor alterations” to opening hours, the centre would still offer a full range of products and assistance with more complex transactions. There would be no changes to staff availability throughout the day. However, the company did not provide any comment on whether job cuts would occur as a result of this shake-up.
These proposed closures come as passenger numbers nationwide are at their lowest since 2002 and revenue is 30% below pre-Covid levels. Transport Secretary Mark Harper expressed his support for the decision to halt the closures, stating that the government had made it clear throughout the consultation process that any resulting proposals must meet high standards of serving passengers. Accessibility groups and passengers were consulted during this process, and the proposals that emerged did not meet the government’s standards, leading to the request for withdrawal from train operators.
