Last week, the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) – the independent rail industry membership body that covers the rail industry – announced plans to phase out most ticket offices in the next three years, including all ticket offices in Runnymede and Weybridge and all on the South Western Railway network.
The RDG state this will deliver savings - needed due to a fall in passenger numbers since the pandemic - while maintaining customer service levels.
Before any changes can be introduced train operators are running public consultations. SWR have commented that they will continue to meet all of their extremely important commitments on providing accessibility for passengers, including passengers with reduced mobility and people requiring in‑person assistance. They have also announced many increased station staffing hours on platform. You can view their proposals here.
But I know many constituents have concerns over these plans so I have made a local survey asking for your views, which is available here: Survey on Ticket Office Closure Plans | Dr Ben Spencer MP
Please do complete the survey and let your friends know too, so we can ensure local views are heard ahead of any changes being made. I will use these responses in my response to the consultation. You can also respond directly to the consultation here.
As well as responding to the consultation, I will be meeting with SWR soon to discuss a number of already existing issues and will raise the potential ticket closures at this meeting.
You can also send to me your concerns and comments on how this will affect you to feed into my consultation response at [email protected]. Please do drop me a line as I cannot take Facebook comments forward as casework.
