Rail travel by station 2022
The independent passenger watchdogs London TravelWatch and Transport Focus are today (Wednesday 5 July) starting public consultations on behalf of GTR and other rail operators across the country, up until 26 July.
They are inviting feedback on proposals to better support passengers by moving ticket office colleagues from behind traditional ticket offices windows, which would close, onto station concourses. The proposed changes would mean colleagues are where customers need them most, making them more visible and accessible to customers.
The aspiration is that colleagues would move to roles that cover a broader range of customer needs in the future – from travel and fares advice to accessibility assistance.
The proposed changes reflect that the way customers buy tickets has changed significantly in recent years, with a reduction in ticket office use. In fact, 9 out of 10 tickets are now purchased outside of traditional ticket offices, be it online or through digital via smart devices or contactless, with ticket machines also able to sell the vast majority of ticket types.
Colleagues play a valuable role in helping customers, which these proposals aim to enhance. In-person assistance would still be available to help customers use machines and advise on the best value-for-money fares.
No stations that have staff today would become unstaffed, and station opening hours would remain the same. However, the hours when ticketing assistance would be available might change. You can view a comparison of current and proposed hours when ticketing assistance would be available on GTR’s websites. You will see that many would remain similar or would offer longer hours:
Great Northern - Public consultation
Thameslink - Public consultation
Southern - Public consultation
Gatwick Express - Public consultation
The safety of customers and security of stations remains an absolute priority. Under the proposed model, staff would be available in the main station, providing a more visible presence to help deter anti-social behaviour, with continued robust support from our team of rail enforcement officers and the British Transport Police.
Furthermore, if the proposals go ahead, all the accessibility assistance provided today would remain and continue to be in line with our Accessible Travel Policy (ATP).
The proposals include the option for some larger stations to provide additional retailing assistance. The GTR stations suggested for this revised format are: Bedford, Brighton, Chichester, Eastbourne, East Croydon, Finsbury Park, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Huntingdon, King’s Lynn, London Blackfriars, London Victoria, Luton Airport Parkway, St Albans City, Stevenage, Sutton, Welwyn Garden City and Worthing.
This could also include stations managed by other operators, on our network: Ashford International (SE), Bromley South (SE), Cambridge (GA), Clapham Junction (SWR), Dartford (SE), Fareham (SWR), Hastings (SE), Havant (SWR), London Bridge (SE), Peterborough (LNER), Portsmouth & Southsea (SWR), Rochester (SE), Southampton Central (SWR), St Pancras International (EMR), Tonbridge (SE) and Wimbledon (SWR).
Alongside the public consultations, run by the independent watchdogs, train operators will consult with union representatives of station colleagues.
No final decision has been made.
For a comparison of current and proposed hours when ticketing would be available, please view the station-by-station consultation document.
• To understand which watchdog to contact about your local station(s), please view the guide here.
• For more details about the consultation go to transportfocus.org.uk and londontravelwatch.org.uk
• For information on how this will change the railways nationally go to raildeliverygroup.com/customer-focused-reform
The consultation runs from 5 July 2023 until 26 July 2023. Responses must be submitted via the main consultation; operators cannot pass on feedback on behalf of others.