Mayor brands ticket office closure consultation "wholly inadequate" and calls for suspension in letter to Transport Secretary

Northern train

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has written to the Transport Secretary, branding the consultation on plans to close ticket offices across the city-region as "wholly inadequate" , and called for an immediate suspension to operator Northern's process - or he will consider legal action.

<p class='newslink'><span class='readmore'>Read more:</span> <a target='blank' href='/news-features/2/news-headlines/152466/littleborough-stations-ticket-office-facing-closure-under-new-plans-to-close-most-ticket-offices-in-england'><span class='newstitle'>Littleborough Station's ticket office facing closure under new plans to close most ticket offices in England</span><span class='dateonline'>Published: 06 July 2023</span></a></p>

In the letter to Mark Harper, Mr Burnham says that passengers and staff have been "taken aback by the scale of the proposed changes", and that it feels they are being "railroaded through" without proper consultation on the impact they would have on passengers, particularly disabled people and older people.

He argues that the proposals set out by train operating companies would "further damage the confidence of passengers in our railways at precisely the time when we are all seeking to attract more people to use public transport and rebuild vital revenue."

<p class='newslink'><span class='readmore'>Read more:</span> <a target='blank' href='/news-features/2/news-headlines/152489/andy-burnham-says-mass-closure-of-train-station-ticket-offices-could-be-illegal'><span class='newstitle'>Andy Burnham says mass closure of train station ticket offices could be illegal</span><span class='dateonline'>Published: 06 July 2023</span></a></p>

The mayor is calling on Northern Trains Limited to suspend their public consultation with immediate effect until they publish an Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA) to help inform consultation responses, arguing that current plans cannot adequately be assessed without one, and that 21 days is a "clearly insufficient" amount of time for people to judge such a far-reaching set of proposals.

He has said that if the operator is not prepared to agree to his request, he will have no option but to consider what legal action may be possible.

Following the rail industry announcement, Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “Across all business sectors the way people consume, access and purchase products and services has changed. Rail is no different - only 1 in 6 journeys on Northern services are purchased through a ticket office, this compares to almost half of all journeys in 2018. We need to modernise to meet the changing needs of our customers and we are seeking views from the public on these proposals.

“Along with the rest of the rail industry, Northern is sharing proposals on how we plan to change how we support customers at our stations. These proposals include the creation of a new, more visible customer facing role that will offer a wider range of support across our stations. This new role will mean that the traditional ticket office is no longer required at most staffed Northern stations, except for 18 at hub locations, that will have amended ticket office opening hours.'