Council Welcomes Decision not to Close Rail Ticket Offices

Hertfordshire County Council has welcomed news announced on Tuesday that plans to close ticket offices in railway stations across the county have been cancelled.

The announcement, made by Transport Secretary Mark Harper MP means that the threat of ticket office closures has passed, with the Minister saying that ‘the proposals did not meet the ‘high thresholds’ set by government.’

The announcement by Government comes at the end of a public consultation process which saw 750,000 responses sent to London Travel Watch and Transport Focus who objected to the proposals saying it had heard ‘powerful and passionate concerns about the changes’.

Hertfordshire County Council responded to the consultation on behalf of residents stating that the proposals went too far too fast. In addition, the county council highlighted that the proposals had not properly considered the difficulties many passengers would have purchasing tickets online or from ticket machines, particularly those with visual impairments, those without access to the internet and those who do not own or use smart mobile devices.

Councillor Phil Bibby, Executive Member for Highways and Transport at Hertfordshire County Council, said: ‘Common sense has prevailed! At a time when we are trying to encourage more people to use public transport the rail industry should be doing all it can to attract passengers rather than putting barriers in the way.’

The county council has highlighted that wider reforms to fares and ticketing are needed to make train travel much easier.

Councillor Bibby continued: ‘We encourage Government to push through its long-awaited proposals to simplify train fares, support the roll out of contactless ticketing while also working with Transport for London to include more Hertfordshire stations in Zone 6.’

For more information visit Rail Delivery Group responds to ticket office closure plans.