| Author |
Message |
|
AndrewRH
|
Post subject: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays  Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:27 am |
|
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:17 am
Posts: 1230
Location: Whitchurch, Hampshire
|
I heard at last night's town council meeting that South-West trains* is planning to shut the ticket office in the train station on Saturday mornings (currently open 6am to 10:25am). There are 23 other stations having their opening hours reduced, too. Their reasoning is that there is a ticket machine that could be used. Also, tickets could be purchased online. More changes are coming soon, too: SWT wrote: From spring 2010, South West Trains will be extending its pioneering smartcard scheme, the first of its kind on the UK national rail network. Following a successful trial on services between Staines and Windsor, the system is being rolled out to include stations between Weymouth and Basingstoke, Staines to Wokingham and the Isle of Wight. Once again, it seems the big-wigs in businesses are ignoring the actual local issues. Its the same issue as when HSBC decided to shut the last bank in town - use the internet and do phone banking instead, they said. Whitchurch is made up of many older residents who may use the train on weekends to visit relatives or do some shopping. These, plus families, are not 'normal commuters' and may be put off travelling by train if there is no person to interact with to buy tickets. Plus, tokens can only be used at the counter, not the machine. Same with getting some discounts. ~Andrew~ *read SWT statement HERE
| Last edited by AndrewRH on Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:48 pm, edited 2 times in total. |
| Add quote from SWT and link to press release |
|
|
  |
|
 |
|
John B
|
Post subject: Re: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:43 pm |
|
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:04 pm
Posts: 539
Location: Whitchurch, Hampshire
|
They have had a notice up for a few days now. The ticket machine is pretty useless for many journeys. Not all tickets are available - many stations are missing and certain offers such as the GroupSave (4 travel for cost of two, + children £1) are unavailable. The latter is an off-peak ticket so is focussed at weekend travel - just when the office is closed! And despite several representations they have still not fixed the sun on the screen which makes it near impossible to use on a sunny day 
| Attachments: |
Ticket machine.JPG [ 237.05 KiB | Viewed 444 times ]
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Mazzy
|
Post subject: Re: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 1:15 pm |
|
 |
| Small Fry |
 |
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:24 pm
Posts: 4
|
Shut on a Saturday.....! I was angry to find the Ticket Office shut on a Monday (22/2) when I wanted to use my travel tokens and disabled railcard to purchase a one day travelcard to London. I ended up spending more money using the ticket machine when I could've got a discount. It is not an easy machine to use. Not a happy bunny. 
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Mike Stead
|
Post subject: Re: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:09 pm |
|
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:25 pm
Posts: 325
|
|
time for a bit of civil disobediance?
Maybe catalogue all the use cases that the ticket machine doesn't cover (tokens etc) and get an admission from SWT that people boarding at Whitchurch without this sort of ticket won't be penalised?
If their closing the office is disenfranchising people using tokens / disabled passes etc, that constitutes discrimination, surely?
|
|
| |
|
|
|
AndrewRH
|
Post subject: Re: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 9:08 pm |
|
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:17 am
Posts: 1230
Location: Whitchurch, Hampshire
|
Here are extracts from the response I got from Passenger Focus regarding my complaint about the closing the Whitchurch train station's ticket office on Saturday's... Note: I recommend you complain to SouthWest Trains ( contact form HERE) as well as the public consultation run by Passenger Focus (email: info@passengerfocus.org.uk). The more complaints the stronger our voice. PassengerFocus.org.uk wrote: In July 2008 South West Trains (SWT) applied for changes across 114 stations... We objected to the proposals on the grounds that strings of station ticket offices would be shut over weekend days and this did not provide widespread and easy access to rail products.
We voiced passenger concerns that the loss of ticket office staff can lead to waiting rooms and toilets being closed, and raised the issue of passengers with limited mobility requiring assistance.
We also referred to our research that shows passengers have an increased sense of security when staff are visible at stations.
The Transport Minister considered our objections on behalf of passengers and refused some of SWT's requests for reduced opening hours, although others were permitted.
In his ruling he stated that only ticket offices selling less than 12 tickets per hours could be considered for a reduction of opening hours.
We have noted you concerns about Whitchurch station and will be including them along with other passengers' views in our response.
...Our response to this consultation will be posted on our web site after 25 March.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
AndrewRH
|
Post subject: Re: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:48 pm |
|
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:17 am
Posts: 1230
Location: Whitchurch, Hampshire
|
Today, Southwest Trains replied to my objection to the proposed shutting of the ticket office on Saturdays... Quote: Dear Mr Reeves-Hall
Thank you for your email of 03 March 2010.
I was sorry to learn that you are unhappy with the closure of
Whitchurch ticket office on Saturdays.
Customers who wish to purchase ticket and cannot use the machines,
are able to call our telesales booking line on 0845 6000 650
choosing option 2. We require 5 clear working days to post the
ticket, or alternatively, a reference number can be provided to
collect the tickets from the machine. There is a button on the
machine that says pre booked tickets, the customer selects this,
inserts their credit card, enters the number and the tickets are
issued.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Kind Regards
Customer Relations Officer
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Mazzy
|
Post subject: Re: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:25 pm |
|
|
| Small Fry |
|
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:24 pm
Posts: 4
|
|
No good if you want to purchase a ticket using travel tokens.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
AndrewRH
|
Post subject: Re: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 1:19 pm |
|
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:17 am
Posts: 1230
Location: Whitchurch, Hampshire
|
Mazzy wrote: No good if you want to purchase a ticket using travel tokens. I had a call back this morning from a chap called Paul Macon at Southwest trains who confirmed that you cannot use tokens with the machine, and that if you have tokens, then you should board the train and seek out the guard as soon as possible so you can purchase a ticket from them using the tokens. ~Andrew~
|
|
| |
|
|
|
AndrewRH
|
Post subject: Re: Railway Station ticket office - to shut Saturdays Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:11 pm |
|
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:17 am
Posts: 1230
Location: Whitchurch, Hampshire
|
Southwest trains are shutting the station on Saturdays, according to this news item. On a more positive note, South-West trains have been painting the station this past week, as they promised.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
RSS Feed
