Bedford transport group blasts Thameslink plans to close all ticket offices as "stupid"

A pro-public transport group in Bedford has hit out at Thameslink’s proposals to close all ticket offices.

English Regional Transport Association (ERTA) has even hailed it a “stupid proposition”, citing not all people have or can afford iPhones.

In a statement, from the ERTA, it said: “We are opposed to the closure of local ticket offices generally as a cut and closure of an amenity many people still find useful and which with creativity can double up as a local information point bridging on-rail and off-rail information.

“It is a stupid proposition. Just because some are digital, still leaves swathes of people who are not, want the choice on some things and these tend to be older people, people with disabilities and those on the margins who cannot afford iPhones and average cost tickets.

“In short, it will disenfranchise loads of people from accessing and using railways. That is draconian and bad for the environment.”

Last week, we revealed how Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) wanted your views on plans to close all ticket offices and move staff on to the station concourse

You can have your say on the plans until July 26 here

Richard Pill, the CEO of ERTA, is also asking the public to write to their MP.

The ERTA’s statement added: “Ticket machines are no panacea, they can get vandalised, they often do not work, they get things wrong, charge more than booking offices and people are fed up with price variation by ticket machines, when what they want is the cheapest ticket to get from A to B.”

GTR has said as part of the proposals it would have staff available at Bedford to assist passengers with buying their tickets, either from the ticket machines, or smartphones, or – for specialist tickets – from the original ticket office itself.

The proposal is this would match the current ticket office opening hours on Sundays and run two hours longer into the evening – to 11.15pm – from Mondays to Saturdays.

The proposed hours are set out here

Jenny Saunders, customer services director for GTR, said: “The proposed changes reflect that the way customers buy tickets has changed significantly in recent years, with most people now buying online or from ticket machines. In fact, nine in 10 are now bought away from the traditional ticket office and GTR has even fitted eticket readers across its network as so many customers now use digital tickets to travel.

“This is a real opportunity to modernise and improve the experience of our customers. Our colleagues would continue to have a really valuable role in helping passengers – these proposals aim to enhance the excellent work they do. It’s important to stress that no station that is staffed today would become unstaffed and we would continue to provide accessibility support and assistance.

“No final decisions have been made, so we really want to hear the views, questions and ideas that customers may have, and we’d encourage everyone to feed back directly to London TravelWatch and Transport Focus by July 26.”