Vow to fight railway station closure plans

As reported yesterday, hundreds of offices across the country are set to be axed at stations.

St Helens Central will survive, albeit on reduced hours, but others around the borough are expected to shut, including busy stations such as Newton-le-Willows.

As part of the proposals, ticket offices at Newton, Earlestown, Eccleston Park, Garswood, Lea Green, Newton-le-Willows, Rainhill, St Helens Junction, Thatto Heath would all be permanently closed.   

The Rail Delivery Group has insisted that moving ticket office staff on to station platforms and concourses will “modernise customer service” and pledged there will be “more staff available to give face-to-face help”.

However, disability charities and trade unions have voiced their anger at the proposals, claiming it will lead to job losses and put some vulnerable passengers off train travel.

Among those left furious by the decision is the deputy leader of St Helens Council, Seve-Gomez-Aspron, who also represents a ward in Newton-le-Willows.

He highlighted that St Helens Central isn't pinpointed by data as the area's busiest station, with passenger numbers showing that is Newton.

In a statement on social media, he said: "It'll mean Lea Green is built with a ticket office that will never open.

"Public and passenger reassurance is heavily reliant on a public-facing member of staff, particularly those who have mobility issues.

"Your Labour Council will object to this in the strongest terms and will write to the government immediately.

"They’re butchering public-facing services whilst giving tax breaks to millionaires."

In a further statement issued by St Helens Borough Council, Cllr Gomez-Aspron, who is cabinet member for strategic transport, said:  “Public and passenger reassurance is heavily reliant on a public-facing member of staff, particularly the elderly and people with disabilities and mobility issues, so to close all but one ticket office here has the potential to take away the independence of a large number of residents who rely on public transport.   

“As a council, we recognise the significant influence our borough has played throughout history - arguably being the birthplace of the railway - which is why we have successfully lobbied for improvements in our infrastructure, resulting in state-of-the-art stations at Newton-le-Willows and Lea Green which is being built now with a ticket office that will never open.   

"They've closed the ticket offices in most cases before the consultation period has even started.

"I call on the government to reconsider these unpopular plans and would urge residents to take part in the consultation to make their feelings known too.”   

Councillor Gomez-Aspron will submit a motion on the matter at the next St Helens Borough Council full council meeting to allow the council to respond within the 21-day consultation period.   

Seve-Gomez Aspron (Image: St Helens Council)

Northern's statement

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."