Government confirms u-turn on plans to close railway ticket offices in England including at Newark Northgate and Newark Castle train stations
A proposal to close around 1,000 ticket offices across the country has been scrapped.
Plans to close hundreds of railway station ticket offices in England will not be going ahead after a consultation on the proposals had 750,000 responses.
Transport secretary, the Rt Hon Mark Harper MP, has confirmed that the Government had “asked train operators to withdraw their proposals”.
These include the two train stations in Newark, Newark Northgate and Newark Castle.
Passenger watchdog Transport Focus noted its objection to all the proposals to close the ticket offices, while the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) slammed the plans.
Mr Harper, said: “The consultation on ticket offices has now ended, with the Government making clear to the rail industry throughout the process that any resulting proposals must meet a high threshold of serving passengers.
“We have engaged with accessibility groups throughout this process and listened carefully to passengers as well as my colleagues in Parliament.
“The proposals that have resulted from this process do not meet the high thresholds set by ministers, and so the government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals.
“We will continue our work to reform our railways with the expansion of contactless Pay As You Go ticketing, making stations more accessible through our Access for All programme and £350 million funding through our Network North plan to improve accessibility at up to 100 stations.”
Newark MP Robert Jenrick said: “I’m pleased to hear that the department for transport has chosen not to proceed with the closure of ticket offices like those at Newark Northgate and Castle stations. When the proposals were mooted, I met with Network Rail, EMR and LNER as well as speaking to staff at Newark Northgate. I raised concerns of local residents, that those with disabilities, such as the blind and partially sighted would need to be properly supported and also that we mustn’t allow a diminution in staff to lead to increased anti social behaviour, especially late at night. These concerns seem to have been listened to and the proposals are not now proceeding in their previous form.
“This doesn’t mean we should pause modernising our stations and ensuring staff can provide all the different services passengers seek: for example someone managing train arrivals and departures should be able to advise on and sell tickets from a portable device and the expansion of contactless Pay As You Go ticketing.
“It’s also good to hear the government will press ahead with £350m investment in making more stations accessible. I will be raising Bingham station in this context as it still doesn’t have disabled access on both sides of the tracks.
“In my experience the staff at Castle and Northgate are excellent and I was keen to ensure none were adversely affected, which I hope is secured by the DfT’s decision today.”