Consultation deadline for ticket office changes approaches 

Deadline for people to have their say on ticket office changes is 1st September.

Across the Greater Anglia network, it would mean that all 54 stations which currently have ticket offices would switch to the new model of retailing.

At seven major stations – London Liverpool Street, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich, Stansted Airport and Cambridge – Customer Information Centres would sell a full range of products, as well as providing help with more complex transactions.

Across the remaining 47 stations, some stations would have staff available for similar hours to today, while some would have staff available for fewer hours than today, focused on the busiest periods.

The type of approach proposed for these 47 stations is similar to that already in place at Bury St. Edmunds and Cambridge North stations.

More details can be seen on the Greater Anglia website.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “The station proposals are aimed at providing a more modern and flexible service for our customers. They reflect the more convenient ways in which passengers are looking to buy their tickets and check travel information.

“Station colleagues would undertake a new, more flexible role - bringing staff closer to customers. Passenger assistance arrangements would continue as they do now, from first to last trains, but with additional mobile teams to give greater flexibility in providing assistance across the network.

“More details, including information about each station covered by the proposals, can be found on our website.  Any comments or feedback should be provided to Transport Focus, or where appropriate, London TravelWatch, before the end of the public consultation process on Friday 1 September. So anyone wishing to contribute to the consultation is encouraged to provide their comments or feedback by the deadline.”

Customers would still be able to buy tickets from the ticket machine and online (as now), and colleagues would still be available at the station to help customers at certain times. Ticketing assistance would also be available directly from staff in Greater Anglia’s Customer Contact Centre, contactable via the ticket machine (24 hours a day). 

All Greater Anglia stations involved in the proposals already have ticket machines, which also have an assistance button enabling customers to contact Greater Anglia staff based at the Customer Contact Centre in Norwich (24 hours a day), to gain guidance or assistance with ticket purchase.

Greater Anglia says no station would become unstaffed as a consequence of the proposals and other station facilities, such as waiting rooms and toilets, would be unaffected.