Rail operators are drawing up plans to eventually close most of England’s station ticket offices, in a move that will reignite a long-running dispute between rail unions with the industry and the UK government.
The industry intends to launch a public consultation process on the closure in the coming weeks with the support of ministers, according to four people familiar with the matter. They said only busy centers or major tourist stations are expected to maintain staffed kiosks.
Only 12 percent of rail passengers now use a ticket office, official figures show, and ministers and senior executives have long said they want to redeploy those staff as part of sweeping modernization plans that have led to clashes with unions and the biggest wave of hits in a generation.
A person close to the Department for Transport said there would be a public consultation in due course. “My understanding is that the train operating companies were asked three or four weeks ago to start preparing the ground for this, probably in July,” he said.
Attempts to close a number of ticket offices were prompted by the rise in ticket purchases via phone apps or vending machines.
Ministers privately claim that some counters in the quietest stations only sell one ticket per hour. “It’s about freeing workers from their Perspex prisons and allowing them to be on the floor advising how to use the ticket machines or helping people with access requirements,” said one government official.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents rail operators, declined to confirm the plans. However, she said she had been in discussions with the RMT, Britain’s biggest transport union, for a year about reforms, including redeploying ticket office staff.
“Unfortunately, these talks have stalled. . . the railway is too vital to those who depend on it for negotiations to continue going round and round,” the RDG said, adding that any changes would be subject to public and staff consultation.
Industry bosses do not expect the closures to lead to immediate job cuts, but the RMT said it would “vigorously oppose any move to close” with the “full industrial strength of the union”.
“We will not sit idly by and allow thousands of jobs to be sacrificed or see disabled and vulnerable passengers unable to use the railways as a result,” RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said.
The union has called three more walkouts next month, widening a long-running dispute with employers over pay and changes to working practices that began in June last year. The rail companies offered pay rises of 5 per cent last year and 4 per cent this year in exchange for the RMT agreeing to major changes, including redeploying ticket office staff.
One industry figure said the push for the closure, one of the most controversial reforms, was prompted by the union’s repeated refusal to offer pay to its members.
One government official accused Lynch of “attempted intimidation”, given that ministers had not pre-empted the lengthy consultations. “We make no secret of the fact that the railways need to reform to survive, but it has to be in a way that works for passengers,” he said.
The industry and government say the changes to the rail service are essential because of the loss of ticket revenue following the increase in people working from home.
The transport department declined to comment.
The planned rail changes emerged as ministers on Tuesday set out plans to strengthen air passenger rights during flight disruptions caused by travel chaos.
But a proposal that was the subject of a consultation last year – to increase access to compensation for domestic flights, including payouts for delays of one hour instead of three – was not included, with the DfT saying “more work” was needed.
The department said passengers would be “better protected” under its proposals, which include legislation to offer “faster and cheaper” out-of-court settlements when passengers and airlines are in dispute.