Today, LNER have informed me that they plan to close the ticket office at Berwick-upon-Tweed Station, despite the station being regularly used by thousands of residents across the Borders.
They plan to “repurpose the Ticket Office at Berwick-upon-Tweed Station allowing more space for a designated accessible waiting area and meeting points.”
They claimed this would mean “enhancing our retail offering via our colleagues, mobile equipment and an enhanced Customer Information Point.”
However, the plans would mean the closure of the ticket office. LNER also said around 8 per cent of ticket types will no longer be available. Customers will not be able to obtain the following products: Season Replacement, Rovers & Rangers, Excesses, Photocards, Refunds, Seat Reservations, and Rail Cards.
It seems unlikely that railway users will be better served by the closure of a ticket office and a reduction in the availability of several ticket types.
The LNER proposal to shut the ticket office at Berwick-upon-Tweed will go through the major change process as part of the requirements of the Industry’s Ticketing and Settlement Agreement.
A public consultation will be open from 5 to 26 July. LNER will then consult on the feedback and address concerns collated by Transport Focus.
The consultation will be published in due course. LNER also said people could provide feedback directly to TicketOffice.LNER@transportfocus.org.uk.
My concerns will be made clear to LNER and I would encourage everyone to contribute to this consultation and make their feelings clear if they feel the same way.
