SE Ticket office closures

[hi2u_uk]

I have just sent in my comment on this issue however people have told me that im wasting my time in that if for instance 80% of people write to say they are against it then it will still go ahead regardless . Do you think this is true ?

 

[Lucy1501]

You won’t be wasting your time, the point of a consultation is to get people’s point of view to inform any decision being made. The train operating company involved will need to consider any objections, suggestions or other information out across in the consultations.

Regarding the 80% against closure comment - yes that could very well happen. If that was the case the company would have to consider the comments on the consultation as to how to minimise the impact to station users (perhaps by changing the scheduled ticketing support staffing times that have been proposed).

 

[hwl]

I have just sent in my comment on this issue however people have told me that im wasting my time in that if for instance 80% of people write to say they are against it then it will still go ahead regardless . Do you think this is true ?

Correct it is a consultation not a vote.

A single digit % of ticket purchases are from ticket offices nationally and less than that average at SE which will decrease further with Project Oval (and other contactless /smart card ticketing else where in the country) so they know most users won't be affected.

 

[thedbdiboy]

The consultation responses are considered by Transport Focus/London TravelWatch who then make a recommendation to the Minister (acting as the Franchise Authority). The Minister can refuse consent to close if they wish. Of course, the proposals were made by TOCs at the behest of the DfT, headed up by the same Minister. This doesn't mean they all get approved as there's an election coming, but it is a process designed to maximise grandstanding.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Correct it is a consultation not a vote.

A single digit % of ticket purchases are from ticket offices nationally and less than that average at SE which will decrease further with Project Oval (and other contactless /smart card ticketing else where in the country) so they know most users won't be affected.

The proportion of tickets purchased or journeys made involving use of a ticket office isn't the same as the proportion of railway passengers affected - ticket office users are obviously much more likely to be occasional users not intense users of the railway. So, eg, ticket office users could be 50% of the total number of different people using the railway in the course of a year, but only make up 10% of the total number of ticket sales because they only make a few journeys each.

So when it's said that only, say, 10% of tickets involve a ticket office transaction, that absolutely doesn't mean that only 10% of people using the railway would be affected by the closure of ticket offices. It'll certainly be much more.

Beware seductively misleading statistics!

 

[hwl]

The proportion of tickets purchased or journeys made involving use of a ticket office isn't the same as the proportion of railway passengers affected - ticket office users are obviously much more likely to be occasional users not intense users of the railway. So, eg, ticket office users could be 50% of the total number of different people using the railway in the course of a year, but only make up 10% of the total number of ticket sales because they only make a few journeys each.

So when it's said that only, say, 10% of tickets involve a ticket office transaction, that absolutely doesn't mean that only 10% of people using the railway would be affected by the closure of ticket offices. It'll certainly be much more.

Beware seductively misleading statistics!

Which is exactly why I worded my comment as it did.
The stats are lower than national average already at SE and will be even lower are Project Oval roll out.

There are reasons that SE are the vanguard...

 

[OneOfThe48]

There are reasons that SE are the vanguard...

If anything, Southeastern have been the most reluctant TOC as they are taking a ‘phased approach’ unlike every other TOC and are only proposing to close 40 of their ticket offices in the first ‘phase’

 

[greatkingrat]

Just saying you oppose the closure will probably make little difference. You need to give specific reasons on how the closure would affect you and why the alternatives (machines, online etc) are not suitable.

 

[Mag_seven]

We discussed the whole issue of ticket office closures in this thread:

Ticket office closures

There has been a recent tweet on Twitter which if correct means that the ticket offices days are are nearly over. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/26/closure-most-uk-railway-station-ticket-offices-start-weeks?CMP=share_btn_tw A process to shut nearly all of Britain’s railway...

www.railforums.co.uk

We closed that until there are any further developments -we will do the same with this thread.