Today, Lucy visited Telford Central to see how the proposed closures of ticket offices by the rail operator will be delivered.
Many constituents have written to Lucy raising concerns about the availability of timetables and the maintenance of the ticketing machines at Telford Central. It is also important that elderly and disabled travellers are able to use the ticketing machines, with improvements made to accessibility and proper guarantees that staff will be on hand to support the use of machines.
Tickets at the machines must also be competitive and offer travellers choice, rather than restrict choice and force travellers to pay for the most expensive ticket on the day.
Lucy Allan MP said:
Whilst I recognise that the current model of fully staffed ticket offices may no longer be viable as the vast majority of customers no longer use them, it is important that any reforms are properly consulted on. Staff redeployed to the station must be able to fully assist all travellers.
Train operators have to be transparent about their plans and ensure that the concerns of travellers are taken into account. I do not think that one weeks’ consultation is sufficient to give people the opportunity to explain their concerns in full.
I visited Telford Central today and spoke to customers who were struggling with the ticket machine.
