(Colne Valley) (Con): I
have huge concerns about these plans (Rail Ticket Offices). As
the Minister knows, my hard-pressed constituents trying to get to
work, college or university from Marsden or Slaithwaite stations
and transiting through Huddersfield still face huge disruption on
the Transpennine route.
When the computer says no, does he not agree that the best way
for them to get advice on ticketing, refunds, alternative routes
and when the next train is coming is by speaking to fully trained
staff in ticket offices?
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (): If I give my station as an example, we have one
member of staff, who is in a ticket office. Most people already
have their tickets, for the reasons I have given; only one in 10
buy them from the ticket office. They access the platform through
a gate and do not see any members of staff. If there are delays
and problems, it is better for passengers to be alongside the
member of staff on the platform to get that information, rather
than trying to find them behind glass.
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab): I am a bit worried. The Minister keeps saying that staff
are not utilised and that people are not accessing ticket
offices. I can tell him that in Hull last year, nearly 180,000
tickets were sold from the ticket office—that is one ticket every
1.6 minutes. We have gone through years of bad management with
Transpennine at
Hull Paragon station. This looks like another downgrading of
facilities for passengers. We have heard about the effect it will
have on the elderly, the disabled and the vulnerable. Can the
Minister just for once put the travelling public first?
: I am putting the travelling public first when I
make these points. What the right hon. Lady and others cannot
deny, despite saying it cannot be believed, is that 10 years ago
one in three tickets was sold across the ticket office counter,
because people were not purchasing as much online or through
machines. Now it is 10%. That demonstrates that ticket office
staff are not being utilised fully. We want to utilise them in a
better manner. Redeploying staff where they are not as busy as
they were and could be better utilised and have a more rewarding
job is what happens across the retail sector. The railways should
be no different.
(Edinburgh West) (LD):
Many Members have mentioned the impact on those with
accessibility problems, and I would urge the Minister to take
that into account. For my constituents in Edinburgh West, the
closures announced by LNER, CrossCountry, Avanti West Coast and
Transpennine all
affect stations on the main line route. Can the Minister tell us
how he is going to address the perception, which is growing, that
people are not being encouraged on to public transport, and that
accessibility to the south of the United Kingdom from Scotland,
particularly from Edinburgh, is being undermined?
: As part of this process, a number of stations will
not be included. They tend to be bigger hub stations, as we call
them, so Edinburgh is not included in that regard. I may be in
danger of repeating myself, but the reason I sat down on the very
first day this came up with those who represent disability and
accessibility groups is that I was concerned they would feel that
such a change may not be a positive for them. I wanted to work
with them to understand how we can make this change positive, and
how we can deploy more staff into the spaces where they will be
able to access them more than they can right now. I continue to
work with those groups, and I give the hon. Member the assurance
that that process will remain. Of course, after the consultation
and at the end point, all the current accessibility requirements
will have to be met under these proposals, as they are under the
existing set-up.
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