Independently run ticket offices at railway stations.

[busroute]

Do any independently run ticket offices (ie not run by the train operating company) at railway stations still exist nowadays?

If you go back about fifteen or twenty years in to the 2000s and 2010s there was dozens of them. It seems that most have closed down and i think a couple were taken over by train operating companies. But i suspect a small amount may still exist.

Knighton, Llandrindod, Ludlow, Ledbury, Chester Le Street, Eaglescliffe, Bishop Auckland, Newtown, Gobowen, Pembrey And Burry Port, Barmouth, Chepstow, Severn Tunnel Junction, Milford Haven, Aber, Bargoed, Millom, Whitby, Saint Ives, Looe, Newquay, Saxmundham, all have or had independent ticket offices. I am not sure on their current status of most of these and it is very difficult to find out online.

There were probably other stations too that i have missed off the list. I would be interested to hear of other stations that used to have independent ticket offices.

It is very difficult to find up to date information on whether any of these still exist. I believe most of them have shut but i do not have hard evidence for most. Covid probably got rid of a lot of them. Maybe even all have dissappeared.

Does anyone have any up to date information on which stations (if any) still have independent ticket offices open?

Also out of curiosity how did these places set up these independent ticket offices? What is the whole process? Do the train operating companies allow anyone to apply to rent out a station building and apply to sell train tickets and if the application is successful then is there a fee? I presume then they get given the neccessary ticket machines and ticket printers and ticket stock?

I would also presume the independent ticket offices take a commission for each ticket they sell but does anyone know what percentage. It would have to be a very high percentage of commission (or for a low percentage of commission the ticket office would need to be very busy and sell a huge amount of tickets) in order to be profitable. Maybe that is why so many of these have shut down as it is not profitable enough.

Lastly i also recall that there used to be some locations away from railway stations that sold train tickets? These were mostly tourist information centres run by councils. I recall a few bus information offices did too. I think also a few travel agent offices. Do any of these places still exist nowadays and if so where?

Thanks in advance for any information that anyone can provide! I always found these to be an interesting quirk of our railways!

 

[Benjwri]

I think Bishop Trains still exists at Bishop Auckland.

 

[stuartn]

Millom is still open- it is part of Millom Heritage and Arts Centre- they already had the whole station building for the Museum (no idea if owned or rented), so it just used otherwise vacant space. Whatever commission they get helps with the finances of the museum. It was done because of public demand to have somewhere they could buy tickets in person, and helps the guards on the busy morning works/schools trains as they rarely have to sell tickets from Millom. It also provides a warm waiting area when the Office is open, which is very welcome. I think they also had a very simple drink and light snacks service originally and also provided local bus timetables (when Millom had a bus service!!).

In Whitehaven we used to have at least two travel agents who used to do rail tickets (issued on hand written paper stock). At one time issuing rail tickets was one of the ABTA training modules for training Travel Agency Staff. After the travel Agents stopped doing rail tickets Whitehaven TIC issued Rail and National Express Coach Tickets (both on paper stock) up until closure.

 

[WesternLancer]

Do any independently run ticket offices (ie not run by the train operating company) at railway stations still exist nowadays?

If you go back about fifteen or twenty years in to the 2000s and 2010s there was dozens of them. It seems that most have closed down and i think a couple were taken over by train operating companies. But i suspect a small amount may still exist.

Knighton, Llandrindod, Ludlow, Ledbury, Chester Le Street, Eaglescliffe, Bishop Auckland, Newtown, Gobowen, Pembrey And Burry Port, Barmouth, Chepstow, Severn Tunnel Junction, Milford Haven, Aber, Bargoed, Millom, Whitby, Saint Ives, Looe, Newquay, Saxmundham, all have or had independent ticket offices. I am not sure on their current status of most of these and it is very difficult to find out online.

There were probably other stations too that i have missed off the list. I would be interested to hear of other stations that used to have independent ticket offices.

It is very difficult to find up to date information on whether any of these still exist. I believe most of them have shut but i do not have hard evidence for most. Covid probably got rid of a lot of them. Maybe even all have dissappeared.

Does anyone have any up to date information on which stations (if any) still have independent ticket offices open?

Also out of curiosity how did these places set up these independent ticket offices? What is the whole process? Do the train operating companies allow anyone to apply to rent out a station building and apply to sell train tickets and if the application is successful then is there a fee? I presume then they get given the neccessary ticket machines and ticket printers and ticket stock?

I would also presume the independent ticket offices take a commission for each ticket they sell but does anyone know what percentage. It would have to be a very high percentage of commission (or for a low percentage of commission the ticket office would need to be very busy and sell a huge amount of tickets) in order to be profitable. Maybe that is why so many of these have shut down as it is not profitable enough.

Lastly i also recall that there used to be some locations away from railway stations that sold train tickets? These were mostly tourist information centres run by councils. I recall a few bus information offices did too. I think also a few travel agent offices. Do any of these places still exist nowadays and if so where?

Thanks in advance for any information that anyone can provide! I always found these to be an interesting quirk of our railways!

I have it in my mind that the commission received was/is 6%
Same as that offered by high street travel agencies many of which sold train and indeed coach tickets back in the day.
I think the decline of high street train ticket retailing probably started with telesales of train tickets in the 1990s, before online sales were really a feasible option.

A recent thread on the forum mentioned Gobowen independent ticket office is soon to close.

 

[Dr Day]

Fairly sure Severn Tunnel Junction is still independent, as is Chepstow

Chepstow Trains

chepstowtrains.com

 

[alistairlees]

I have it in my mind that the commission received was/is 6%
Same as that offered by high street travel agencies many of which sold train and indeed coach tickets back in the day.
I think the decline of high street train ticket retailing probably started with telesales of train tickets in the 1990s, before online sales were really a feasible option.

A recent thread on the forum mentioned Gobowen independent ticket office is soon to close.

The commission for selling at stations is 9% and has been for a long time.

 

[WesternLancer]

The commission for selling at stations is 9% and has been for a long time.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Belperpete]

The Ffestiniog Railway at one time (long ago) used to sell BR tickets at its Minffordd booking office. More recently it used to sell BR tickets in its booking offices in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog. This was done through it's travel agency arm, Ffestiniog Travel. While I understand Ffestiniog Travel still sell rail tickets (among other things!), they no longer have staff in Porthmadog or Blaenau stations for face to face sales.

A hangover from the days when they used to sell tickets from Minffordd and Blaenau stations like any other BR booking office is that I understand they are one of, if not the only, travel agent allowed to sell priv tickets.

At one time I used to travel by rail regularly for work, and got my tickets from Ffestiniog Travel by post. It was a special Midland Mainline ticket (first class plus breakfast plus parking), and they even got a supply of the special gold wallets that such tickets came in.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Deleted, duplicate information.

 

[lyndhurst25]

The ticket offices run by Lancashire County Council at Clitheroe, Nelson and Carnforth all were closed ~2020. The building at Clitheroe is now a station cafe. I wonder what the set-up and ongoing running costs would be if such businesses were to start selling rail tickets as a side line? A bit like Post Offices that have moved from being a separate shop, to become a counter within another business.

 

[Sonic1234]

if such businesses were to start selling rail tickets as a side line?

I do wonder if this could be the future of face-to-face ticket sales, maybe even the setup being that they going onto a booking website and print off a ticket for the few customers who don't buy online or at a machine.

While the idea of ticket office closures was unpopular, a lot of the ticket offices I see aren't doing any business and has one person bored out of their mind behind the glass.

 

[robbeech]

I seem to recall Mansfield was at one point but not sure if it still is or whether EMR run it now.

 

[daodao]

TfGM run the ticket office at Altrincham, not the TOC, which is Northern.

 

[styles]

I do wonder if this could be the future of face-to-face ticket sales

I think the future of face-to-face ticket sales is just... not doing face-to-face ticket sales.

Not that I'm advocating for it, but it seems inevitable, and there are examples even in this thread of the indy ones going - Gobowen is mentioned in post #1 but that's closing on 31st December this year, and that's one which already has a coffee shop it could've been worked into if they felt it workable. Some larger stations will retain them for a long time yet I suspect, but beyond that, I foresee a slow but steady stream of closures, possibly by progressively reduced opening hours.

 

[RPI]

I only noticed the other week that St Ives no longer has this!

 

[Tetchytyke]

I do wonder if this could be the future of face-to-face ticket sales

think the future of face-to-face ticket sales is just... not doing face-to-face ticket sales.

I think it depends on what the cost of having the equipment is. If it’s minimal then you may as well keep the equipment and anything you do sell is a bit of extra money. But if it starts costing notable amounts of money to operate then people will just hand the machines back.

We’re seeing that in London with the Oyster Ticket Stops, shops are handing the terminals back because the commissions they receive don’t cover the increasing costs of supporting the old Oyster technology.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I think Bishop Trains still exists at Bishop Auckland.

Although sadly without David

 

[Sonic1234]

I think it depends on what the cost of having the equipment is. If it’s minimal then you may as well keep the equipment and anything you do sell is a bit of extra money. But if it starts costing notable amounts of money to operate then people will just hand the machines back.

In London, this is also due to the decline in use of Oyster cards. For selling rail tickets, most tickets could be sold via a standard PC/laptop/iPad and a plain paper printer now, stuff businesses will have already for their admin. There would need to be an agreement with the TOC to receive a commission for these sales when they use their login. Similar to independent businesses being Evri parcelshops etc.

I think the future of face-to-face ticket sales is just... not doing face-to-face ticket sales.

Almost certainly and probably at some stations (suburban London stations) should be. At one SE metro station, they were raffling a large teddy for charity. The look of joy on the ticket office clerk's face when someone rushing for a train or kids playing around knocked this teddy off its chair, because then he had a productive job to do for the next 30 seconds. This is the level of business at some ticket offices. We're always told we should suck up the high fares and not have nice things because "the railway is subsidised" but then it wastes money in other ways.

 

[Adam Williams]

Fairly sure Severn Tunnel Junction is still independent, as is Chepstow

Chepstow Trains

chepstowtrains.com

It is indeed. The people behind it are a nice bunch.

I think it depends on what the cost of having the equipment is. If it’s minimal then you may as well keep the equipment and anything you do sell is a bit of extra money. But if it starts costing notable amounts of money to operate then people will just hand the machines back.

I can't see costs decreasing, the regulatory burden keeps increasing every year with various mandated changes that all have a cost to implement. This will mean ticket issuing updates need to be updated far more often.

There will be even more of this as fares reform continues to evaluate very different approaches in different parts of the country, with limited "joined up" thinking.

 

[chris53]

The ticket offices run by Lancashire County Council at Clitheroe, Nelson and Carnforth all were closed ~2020. The building at Clitheroe is now a station cafe. I wonder what the set-up and ongoing running costs would be if such businesses were to start selling rail tickets as a side line? A bit like Post Offices that have moved from being a separate shop, to become a counter within another business.

There was also one at Burscough which was opened in a blaze of publicity in 2005 and then closed in 2016. Lancashire County Council took a 50 year lease on the site from Network Rail

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 minutes ago ==

I think the future of face-to-face ticket sales is just... not doing face-to-face ticket sales.

Not that I'm advocating for it, but it seems inevitable, and there are examples even in this thread of the indy ones going - Gobowen is mentioned in post #1 but that's closing on 31st December this year, and that's one which already has a coffee shop it could've been worked into if they felt it workable. Some larger stations will retain them for a long time yet I suspect, but beyond that, I foresee a slow but steady stream of closures, possibly by progressively reduced opening hours.

I have noticed that the Ticket Office at Preston Station which is a major interchange by anyone's definition never seems to be manned after around 6pm despite the website saying differently and there is always a cluster of people around the few ticket machines.

 

[WesternLancer]

then

These ones with local council involvement will have been victims of declining footfall / use but also the harsh austerity cuts in local council funding post 2011 which will have hit the councils concerned including aspects of other council services that might have been offered by the ticket offices concerned eg concessionary bus passes or local info points if such services were indeed offered at the ticket offices.