Stations without ticket offices and ticke office closures

[Perns1972]

Hello there,

Does anyone know how many stations don't have ticket offices?

Or do you know where I could get this information from?

I'm also wondering whether any research has been carried out to chart the closure of ticket offices over the last decade or so.

Any help or ideas would be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The only booking office I know has closed over the last decade is Hilsea near Portsmouth, as far as I know no others have gone*. FCC wanted to close Drayton park and SE wanted to close Martin Mill about 3-5 years ago, however these were rejected by the DfT. That said however, London Midland have been given permission to close booking offices at Cheddington, Lye, Witton and Wythall, but I'm not sure when they will close.

Many booking offices at the smaller halts across the land went in the 1960s, with smaller numbers in the '70s. The last large cull was between 1988-1993, when about 50-70 closed nationwide. If anyone has any specific info they want I'll try my best to source it, as I'd quite like to know too.

Quite a few have however been restaffed in recent years, for example Worle and Nailsea & Backwell in Somerset, Burscough Bridge in Lancashire, and many on an independent basis, like Ludlow, Chester-le-Street and Newtown (Powys).

* - That said, NXEA introduced booking offices at Attleborough, North Walsham and Wymondham in Norfolk on a trial basis in 2008, however these didn't last and they closed last year I'm afraid. Nearby (-ish) Saxmundham in Suffolk used to be run as per Ludlow etc independently, however this closed without replacement a while back.

(Yes, booking offices are my special interest!)

 

[wintonian]

Shawford had a ticket office until 2003/4 ish

There are many in the NSE area that operate what could be termed a parliamentary service, i.e. open for 2-3 4 hours early morning.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Shawford had a ticket office until 2003/4 ish

There are many in the NSE area that operate what could be termed a parliamentary service, i.e. open for 2-3 4 hours early morning.

I agree on your second point fully, however my source had Shawford down as closing in January 1993! Whereabouts was the booking office there out of interest?

Edit - Ah, probably in the old building!

 

[John @ home]

Does anyone know how many stations don't have ticket offices?

Or do you know where I could get this information from?

I'm also wondering whether any research has been carried out to chart the closure of ticket offices over the last decade or so.

Ticket office opening hours are regulated. Much of the information you seek should be available on the Office of Rail Regulation site or from their rail statistics team.

 

[exile]

Around half of stations are unstaffed - approx. 1,200.

 

[wintonian]

I agree on your second point fully, however my source had Shawford down as closing in January 1993! Whereabouts was the booking office there out of interest?

Edit - Ah, probably in the old building!

I could have sworn it was later than that.

Until recently you could still see the booking hall and ticket window through the doors, lying dormant.

Yes it was here in the only building:

 

[Deerfold]

There are many in the NSE area that operate what could be termed a parliamentary service, i.e. open for 2-3 4 hours early morning.

The difference being that that is usually a useful service for many people

 

[wintonian]

The difference being that that is usually a useful service for many people

Arghh I hate that 'that that' thing Yes I know my grammar is generally appalling.

True I guess annual season tickets are worth more than railcard renewals and AP bookings.

 

[trentside]

True I guess annual season tickets are worth more than railcard renewals and AP bookings.

I think that's definitely the case, though obviously annuals and railcards only come around once a year. Most offices around here with limited opening hours are skewed towards the morning peak (e.g. 0700-1330) which makes logical sense (as it's when most people choose to do renewals etc.).

Having some further education institutions can also really push up the number of 16-25 Railcards sold in September and October, as students discover the price of getting back home without one. The majority I see have an expiry date in one of these months.

I'm surprised there haven't been more post-privatisation closures, and I'm also surprised that more TOCs aren't following in London Midland's footsteps and attempting ticket office closures. Given that I work in a ticket office, this is also reasonably comforting...

 

[RJ]

(Yes, booking offices are my special interest!)

You should try working where I worked. Non stop action, with the odd situation of badly behaved people being tied up cropping up every now and again.

 

[34D]

You should try working where I worked. Non stop action, with the odd situation of badly behaved people being tied up cropping up every now and again.

Tied up where, and by whom?

 

[Deerfold]

Tied up where, and by whom?

You're not expecting details from RJ following an enigmatic post are you?

 

[RPI]

There are some seasonal ticket offices, St Ives has a seasonal man with avantix, along with Lelant Saltings, Carbis Bay, Dawlish Warren. Looe and Newquay have seasonal ticket offices also.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Do Lelant Saltings, Carbis Bay and Dawlish Warren have seasonal booking offices? As you say, I thought the only ones were Newquay and Looe, and Llandudno I think...

 

[RJ]

Tied up where, and by whom?

The other side of my window, by the police. He went absolutely beserk because I refused to give him a refund that he wasn't entitled to and permit him to travel free. A colleague who I have great respect for came to assist me and the man refused to calm down, so the BTP got involved. He still refused to calm down despite their intervention, but he was soon restrained. I'm surprised he wasn't citizen's arrested sooner as he had attacked my window and posed a very real danger to the people around him. The fact that I sat still and didn't blink whilst he attacked my window enraged him further. Not really I lot I could do!

I tried my best to please all, but this character expected me to reimburse him out of my own pocket, which wasn't going to happen! There was certainly more to the job than watching the world go by - quite fancy a go at being an RPI as it happens!

 

[wintonian]

Is there a list of closures and associated dates, for the last 20, 30 or 40 years somewhere?

 

[RPI]

Do Lelant Saltings, Carbis Bay and Dawlish Warren have seasonal booking offices? As you say, I thought the only ones were Newquay and Looe, and Llandudno I think...

Yes, they have a man or woman with an avantix.

 

[Perns1972]

Does a list exist covering unstaffed stations and closed ticket offices? It sounds like something the ORR should provide.

 

[Greenback]

John@Home provided a link to ORR and the Rail Statistics Team in post #5 of this very thread.

Please don't resurrect old threads by asking for information that has already been provided.