Campaigners and politicians in Shropshire react to ticket office u-turn
A Shropshire campaigner has said she is "ecstatic" with the news that plans to close railway station ticket offices have been scrapped.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the Government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals to close ticket offices, which were brought forward due to pressure from ministers to cut costs.
It comes in response to watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch announcing they opposed every single planned closure due to issues such as the impact on accessibility.
Protests against closures were held locally at Telford Central and Wellington Railway Station earlier this year, which saw dozens of campaigners gather.
Fiona McCleary, an IT professional and PCS Trade union rep, celebrated the decision which she said was down to the "tireless" efforts of unions and campaigners across the country.
The 24-year-old said: "I am ecstatic to hear this. I think it was clear from day one that the public did not support these plans and it's thanks to the tireless work from campaigners up and down the country that this can be for the best for workers and customers.
"Any cut to public services is an affront to workers and the public, it's never going to result in something good, especially something that keeps people safe.
"We were looking at tens of thousands of people who were going to be unable to travel – the elderly who need to use the machines or speak to a member of staff, disabled people who need help around the platform and women travelling late at night."
Ms McCleary said in a previous article that she frequently uses the trains and finds the help of ticket office staff invaluable.
"Every time I got on a train I made a point of speaking to people and asking them what they thought and I didn't have one person saying they wanted ticket offices to close," she added.
"Everyone has a story of a friend or family member or someone that at some point has needed to access a ticket office.
"Two thousand jobs have been saved here and two thousand families have been saved from financial instability."
A total of 750,000 responses were submitted to the consultation, watchdog Transport Focus said.
Those responses contained "powerful and passionate concerns" about the potential changes at stations.
Transport Focus and London TravelWatch were required to review each proposal to close a ticket office based on criteria relating to customer service, accessibility and cost-effectiveness, before deciding whether or not to object.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of Transport Focus, said there were “serious overall concerns” over issues including how so-called welcome points would work, how operators would sell a “full range” of tickets, and how excessive queues at ticket machines would be avoided.
Lucy Allan, MP for Telford said: “I am pleased that the train operating companies have listened carefully to the concerns of my constituents and many others across the country who were worried about the closure of ticket offices, including those in Telford.
"The decision to maintain ticket offices will make a difference to passengers, particularly the elderly and disabled who may find ticket machines difficult to use, and it will be welcome news to all of my constituents who have written to me about this issue.“
Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, said: “Local ticket offices are a lifeline for many passengers – in particular the elderly and vulnerable – and therefore I’m relieved the Government has belatedly seen sense on this.
“The excellent service at Gobowen Station is a typical example of why we need to protect ticket offices across the country.
“Here in North Shropshire we need more investment in our public transport, not further cuts to services.
"That means reopening the rail line to Oswestry, sorting out step-free access for Whitchurch station and boosting our bus services.”
Keith Flinders, of Stourbridge Line User Group, had been among those who had campaigned to save the office at Stourbridge Junction. The office is known as the home of George the Station cat.
Mr Flinders said: "I think its good news, common sense has prevailed at last.
"The irony is the train operating companies had to front the plan, having been told by the Government to do it.
"Now the Government is now telling the train operators not to do it."
Mr Flinders said the office at Stourbridge Junction was the fifth busiest in the West Midlands, closely followed by Kidderminster.
