Commuters left angry at ‘money-grabbing’ rail company closing ticket offices

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Commuters feel “angry” and “frightened” at the thought of their local train ticket office closing, and feel the move is a “greedy, money-grabbing exercise”.

Southeastern Railway has announced that it is considering closing ticket offices at 40 stations in its South London network.

The rail company said the stations targeted reportedly sold fewer than 50 tickets at their office windows daily and already have Pay As You Go services available.

The scheme aims to move staff out of ticket offices to make them more available to assist customers face-to-face and promote the roll-out of self-service technology.

Victor Browning, 70, has lived in Bexleyheath for 16 years and said he uses the train three times a week to go “out and about”.

He said he feels commuters who are not “digitally minded” will struggle to buy tickets online or at machines.

Mr Browning said: “I think it’s all wrong. It first started I think with (Boris) Johnson when he started shutting the Tube ticket offices. That’s when it started and it’s just money-saving.

“They said they’re going to put all the ticket office clerks out on the platform. If you want a ticket they will go, ‘oh yeah, it’s in the machine’.

“I’ve seen on Facebook and different things that people say the machines are not working, and there’s no one there, so they’ve got to get on a train without a ticket.”

Southeastern said in a statement that it had seen a reduction of 63million journeys in the past four years. The rail company admitted there was a “cost-saving element” to the proposals.

It said: “We want to make sure our railway is sustainable for the future and reduce the costs associated with running the railway, noting that we are a public sector organisation dependent upon a taxpayer subsidy of over £1million a day.”

Leah Eagles, 20, said she has lived in Bexleyheath her whole life. She said she uses the train five-days-a-week to get to work, and appreciates the concerns elderly commuters may have on not being able to apply discounts to tickets bought on machines.

Ms Eagles said: “I just have Apple Pay, but I feel that older people who aren’t good at technology, they’re going to be affected.”

She added: “Obviously money’s tight. I travel every day and it’s a tenner. That’s £10 off my pay. So even if you’re not just going to work, it’s a bit expensive.”

A Southeastern spokesman said: “We’d like to reassure customers in Bexleyheath and across South-east London that closing ticket offices, if the proposals are approved, will not reduce the support available for people wanting to buy a ticket or seek travel advice at the station.

“All of our stations currently staffed will continue to be staffed – indeed at Bexleyheath the proposed staffing hours are longer than the ticket office opening hours now.”

Nanth Sab, 63, said he and his aunt live within walking distance of Bexleyheath station. He said he uses the train four-days-a-week, while his aunt uses it to travel several times a month.

Mr Sab said he was “angry” when he learned of the proposed changes. He added: “I know they need to cut corners, but they shouldn’t cut corners with people’s feelings.”

Pictured top: Leah Eagles, 20, has lived in Bexleyheath her whole life (Picture: Joe Coughlan)