COVENTRY City Council has objected to the proposed closure of rail station ticket offices unless firms can give assurances the plans would not affect passengers or lead to job losses.
The plans would see ticket offices close at Coventry Canley and Tile Hill stations, with mobile teams covering each venue to offer support to passengers.
Under the plans, all ticket offices in their current form would close over the next three years, apart from several ‘hub stations’, such as Birmingham Snow Hill, Sutton Coldfield, University and Wolverhampton.
Yesterday (September 1) was the last day for people to have their say on the proposals.
Staff would still be present at the station, but the authority said as yet, it is not known if numbers would be reduced.
The Council has officially responded to the consultation on the issue and has contacted both West Midlands Railway and Avanti West Coast, which operate the ticket offices affected in Coventry.
The authority said it would not support any moves that would see a reduction in customer service at railway stations.
Coun Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change at Coventry City Council, said: “Although we support the broadening of the staff role and multi-skilling of station staff to better support customers, we cannot support any reduction in the quantity or quality of customer service that rail users receive.
“At present, we have received no information as to how many staff will be supporting our stations or the frequency of the support from these mobile teams.
“They have not told us how many stations or what area these teams will be covering, so we have no idea of how they plan to support customers at our four city stations.
“How will these plans affect people without internet access, those who need more support, and also, how will they impact safety at remote stations? We just haven’t been told.
“That clearly is not good enough, and we have told the rail companies that we must have assurances on behalf of our residents that they will be able to get the support they need.
“Of course, we also want assurances on behalf of the rail workers as well.
“We need to know whether there are jobs at risk, and how these plans will impact rail staff as well as passengers.”
The rail firms said there would be a ‘visible and accessible staff presence’ on ticket concourses and platforms during staff hours.
The firms said just 12 per cent of all tickets were currently sold at offices, compared to 82 per cent in the 1990s and around half of all sales nationally were now made online.
WMR managing director Ian McConnell said: “Our proposals would mean staff being more visible and available where customers most need them – on concourses and platforms to help with journey planning, finding the right ticket and supporting passengers with accessibility needs.
“We understand that some customers have complex needs and some are less comfortable using digital technology, which is why we will be consulting widely with relevant groups and looking at ways of supporting all our customers to ensure no one is left behind.”
Avanti West Coast managing director Andy Mellors added support and extra training would be provided to help staff move into new and varied roles with several responsibilities without compromising on the safety of them or customers.
