Branch line ticket offices could close (From Bucks Free Press)
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Branch line ticket offices in Bourne End and Cookham could close
5:30pm Wednesday 7th September 2011 in Cookham By Lawrence Dunhill
Branch line ticket offices could close
RAILWAY ticket offices in Bourne End and Cookham could be closed if recommendations in a government-commissioned report are implemented.
The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) trade union says the stations are on a "hit list" of 675 offices across the country.
The report recommends that machines are brought in to replace the manned stations. The Department for Transport says it is considering the report.
Susan Morrison, chairman of the Maidenhead-Marlow Passenger Association, said: “This is clearly disturbing for us.
“As is always the case they focus on the smaller stations, but those are the ones where the staff are most valuable.
“There's nothing to tell you when the next train is and at Bourne End it can be very confusing to know which platform to be on.”
Apart from a intercom help button there is no updated customer information available at the stations, such as a digital departure board, she said.
“We don't even have clocks that work”, she added.
The TSSA is launching a campaign to save the ticket offices and leader Gerry Doherty said tickets bought from machines are “usually more expensive”.
A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: “We recognise the importance of having staff at stations and understand that passengers want to talk to another human being, in particular when there is disruption.
“The industry needs to cut costs as a way of limiting future fare rises and providing better value for money for the taxpayer.
“Recent years have seen a fundamental shift in the way that people buy train tickets. There have been big increases in the use of ticket machines, rail websites and smartcards, meaning that around one in three tickets is now bought from station ticket offices.”
The ticket office at Bourne End is manned until 1.15pm Monday to Friday, and on Saturday mornings. Cookham is staffed until 12.30pm during the week, plus Saturday mornings. Marlow station does not have a ticket office.
jayeatman says...
9:01am Mon 12 Sep 11
Staffed stations are a luxury, something you are going to find very hard to justify when there is only one train in each direction outside of rush hours.
If needing someone to tell you in which direction a train is going in because you can't read a timetable is the best reason you can come up with for keeping staff, you have little hope of success.