Plans have been proposed to close the ticket offices at the Newark Castle and Newark Northgate train stations.
Visitors and residents of a Nottinghamshire town with two railways stations have shared their disappointment over proposals made to close the ticket offices. Plans have been put forward by East Midlands Railway and LNER to close the ticket offices at the Newark Castle and Newark Northgate train stations.
A Balderton resident who did not wish to be named said: "I don't always use the ticket office but I like knowing it's there, especially if there has been a train delayed or cancelled or a strike is happening. It's good for people that don't have smartphones too or for when the ticket machine doesn't work."
He added: "The other thing is we were in the station in Alnmouth and I was getting up to go to the train and left behind my umbrella. The man in the ticket office asked if it was mine. It's all the niceties of having staff we would miss and all the things we need someone for." "The void left by the absence of staff at ticket offices raises concerns about passenger safety and a potential spike in crime rates. Additionally, the perplexing contradiction between government commitments to sustainable public transport and the current scenario is deeply troubling."
David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said: “Our customers’ habits have changed, and we must plan for the needs of our future customers. We want everyone to enjoy an even better experience when travelling with LNER. Our proposals for each of our stations will bring our people closer to our customers, improve accessibility and make good use of the hand-held technology and digital systems that we have pioneered in the rail industry.
"The proposals would help bring station retailing up to date from the mid 90’s, when the rules on how to sell tickets were set and before the invention of the smartphone. Back then, over 80% of all tickets were sold at ticket offices, compared to just 12% nationally and less than 5% at EMR stations on average today."
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