Sara Britcliffe, Member of Parliament for Hyndburn and Haslingden, has submitted her response to Northern Rail regarding their proposal to close the ticket office at Accrington Railway Station.
Ms Britcliffe has come out against this, arguing both that reducing staffing hours and the ticket office closure will have adverse impacts.
The MPs letter is in full below:
To Whom it May Concern,
Re: Closure of Accrington Railway Station Ticket Office
I am sending this letter as my response to the consultation on ticket office closures. I am the Member of Parliament for Hyndburn and Haslingden, and my response relates to Accrington Railway Station in my constituency, in relation to its Ticket Office & staffing levels.
The proposals put forward by Northern mean that there will be no ticket office service at Accrington Railway Station. This is a reduction from the status quo, where the station’s ticket office is currently staffed from 6:40-15:00 Monday-Saturday and 8:50-16:45 on a Sunday.
The proposed alternative – a ‘journey maker’ – to be on hand at stations, outside of ticket offices and in and around the platforms would mean stations like Accrington are still staffed, just that there is no traditional ticket office. Northern’s proposals significantly reduce the time that Accrington Railway Station would be staffed by new ‘journey makers’ to 8:00-12:00 Monday – Friday, 9:00 to 13:00 on a Saturday and no staffing on a Sunday.
I have several concerns about these proposals.
Reduced staffing
The rationale for closing ticket offices is fewer people paying for journeys through a ticket office, however, there is scant detail about why Northern is reducing the hours that its staff will be present at stations. Entries and exits from Accrington Railway Station numbered 385,604 in 2021-22, the latest year for which we have data. That is a strong recovery in numbers off the back of the pandemic.
There is data for the latest financial year 2022-23, in Office of Rail and Road (ORR) datasets, which show Northern Trains number of passenger journeys. Journeys were up 20% in 2022-23 compared with the previous financial year, which is evidence that passenger railway journeys are recovering.
ORR data also shows that in 2022-23, the number of passengers assists for Northern hit 50,688, the highest level the ORR have on record. As I understand it, ‘passenger assists’ refers to providing passengers with disabilities or anyone else who may require help with assistance to enable them to make their journey.
The concern I would raise, is how Northern Trains can justify such a significant reduction in staffing hours at Accrington Railway Station, when passenger journeys are recovering and the number of people who seek assistance at stations across the Northern network is increasing.
Closure of ticket office
Closing the ticket office has several implications that could impact my constituents. Accrington Railway Station is the only staffed station in Hyndburn and Haslingden and has recently seen improvements through the Government’s Access for All scheme. In addition, the ticket office houses toilet facilities and is the only part of the station that accepts cash payments.
Closing the ticket office will impact people who are disabled or have long term illnesses requiring access to a toilet. It will make Accrington Railway Station less inclusive, at a time when we have made and are making leaps forward.
For example, Lancashire County Council’s recently successful £50million Levelling Up Fund award for east Lancashire proposes increasing active travel routes to Accrington Railway Station and making further accessibility improvements. The aim of this, obviously, is to increase usage of the station, and I am concerned that Northern’s plans do not align with that vision.
In addition, a journey maker will not be able to help a customer pay in cash. While cash payments may be declining there is still a significant minority of people who utilise this method of payment. Research from the House of Commons Library shows this is especially true for those who are older, digitally excluded, or on a low income. Whilst I note that Northern has proposed utilising the ‘Promise to Pay’ ticket where ticket offices are closing and people only have cash, I would suggest that this is a sub-optimal solution and the plans risk a less inclusive environment overall.
I urge Northern to consider the points I have raised. More people are returning to the railways and more people are requesting passenger assistance, significantly reducing staffing hours at Accrington Railway Station against that backdrop makes little sense. The proposal to close the ticket office risks undermining recent improvements at Accrington Railway Station, making it less inclusive and a less friendly station for vulnerable groups.
Numerous constituents have made representations to me about the reduction in staffing and closure of the ticket office at Accrington Railway Station. I know several of them are seriously concerned about reducing human contact at the station because they value the knowledge of staff. I hope Northern will reconsider and I would be happy to discuss this response further.
Yours sincerely,
Sara Britcliffe MP
Member of Parliament for Hyndburn and Haslingden
