McNulty Report - ticket office closures, increased fares? (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Guardian:

Transport secretary Justine Greening to review rail fares in official response to McNulty rail industry report

Campaigners fear increases in peak fares could force commuters off trains while unions warn local stations may close if the government endorses plans to cut costs by changing the way the industry is run.

The transport secretary, Justine Greening, will set the direction of travel for the railways on Thursday with her official response to the McNulty review of the industry. She will also announce a new look at rail fares and a consultation on devolving powers over the network to local authorities.

The report by Sir Roy McNulty last year concluded that rail operating costs in Britain were 20%-30% higher than they should be and identified automatic ticketing and cutting staff on trains as potential savings. The government is expected broadly to endorse the proposals, which include sacrificing some ticket offices. Unions believe this could lead to station closures, job losses and higher fares.

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) union, said: "If the local booking office goes, then the station will not be far behind. This will amount to a mini-Beeching with hundreds of stations in rural areas facing the threat of long-termclosure."

The Campaign for Better Transport has sounded alarm over fares, given McNulty's recommendation that the system should better manage peak demand by charging more for the busiest trains. Passengers already face fare rises 3% above inflation next year. Chief executive Stephen Joseph warned that many commuters have inflexible work times or commitments like childcare or school runs. Research suggested higher fares would have only a marginal impact on when people travelled.

He said: "If people could change their commute times easily, they would have done so by now to avoid having to stand on crowded trains. Raising the prices will simply create political opposition, price people on lower incomes off trains and make little difference to overcrowding."

Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle said: "Plans to give train companies even greater freedoms to hike rail fares, close ticket offices and provide fewer staff on trains and at stations show just how out of touch ministers are with passengers and commuters.

Labour also warned against the government hastening the "deep alliances" that Network Rail has announced with train operators in the wake of McNulty in an attempt to work more closely together and drive down costs. Network Rail says the alliances, where train and track management will share regional offices, will "better align incentives and see quicker, more joined-up, decision making".

However, the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union says the plans mean "mini-Railtracks" and critics believe operators will in effect take control. Eagle said: "The same private companies who are already raking in large profits in an industry that receives ^4bn of taxpayers' money every year are for the first time set to be given the whip hand over infrastructure as well as services."

The third strand of the government's rail reform package will be a consultation on devolving power over local railways to regional transport bodies ^ potentially opening up more of the country to the kind of integrated ticketing and services delivered in the capital by Transport for London now.

There was better news for part-time workers or parents working flexible hours. The government is indicating that it wants to see part-time commuter season tickets, offering discounts for regular passengers on the same journey who may not keep daily hours. In addition, Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services)-style smart ticketing is likely to be demanded from operators on future franchises. Rail minister Theresa Villiers said the technology offered the "potential for more flexible season tickets better suited to modern working practices".

[Btline]

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) union, said: "If the local booking office goes, then the station will not be far behind. This will amount to a mini-Beeching with hundreds of stations in rural areas facing the threat of long-term closure."

Absolutely rubbish. There are plenty of stations without ticket offices that haven't closed. In fact, there are plenty of stations that SHOULD close that haven't closed!

Whilst, I think it is a shame that ticket offices close, online ticket sales and smartcards will render them redundant over the next decade apart from at major stations.

Fare rises at peak times - worrying.

[matt473]

Absolutely rubbish. There are plenty of stations without ticket offices that haven't closed. In fact, there are plenty of stations that SHOULD close that haven't closed!

Whilst, I think it is a shame that ticket offices close, online ticket sales and smartcards will render them redundant over the next decade apart from at major stations.

Fare rises at peak times - worrying.

There is an elemend of truth if you think about it logically. If there are reduced opportunities to purchase tickets, many people that wish to pay may not get the chance to. This would make services unviable so if a stations or a whole line becomes unviable then stations and lines may be closed due to nobody using them as far as statistics go as no tickets to/from stations along a particualr line can be purchased. Either you subsidise it heavily or close the line so there are elements of possibility. Highly unlikely I admit but you can never tell with the way the railway is used as political football nowadays.

[trainbuff]

I agree with mat.

If staff are removed from trains as well...an additional McNulty recommendation... and there are no facilities to buy tickets at the station many people will just buy a ticket from the nearest station.

For example. On the Gunnislake line I bet you would see a reduction in the number of tickets from Gunnislake, Calstock, Bere Ferrers etc, and an increase from Devonport!!!!

Then the argument that falling passenger numbers from the other stations would mean the line taking less revenue. An incentive to wind it down and maybe even close it! This is the logic.

I am not saying this will happen on this line, but it shows what could happen on any Branch line or intermediate station

[Phil]

Again, sorry to sound like a stuck record, but technology holds the answer.

BTline mentions smart-cards up there. Let's take it a step further and imagine a future where ALL tickets have chips embedded. Gates, barriers and doorways all have readers, both at "station-stops" and on trains. The technology *knows* where you got on, and where you got off. There's no avoiding it.

[paul7575]

Unfortunately, total smartcard perfection requires 100% barriered stations, and then you need permanent staffing everywhere as well.

I see this point about part time season tickets comes up again.  On SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s long distance London routes, as we've mentioned before, the 7 day season is about the same price as two anytime returns. 

But it's easy to come up with daft ideas like 'why can't I buy a 3 day season for half price', but that then  means no one would ever buy an Anytime fare, they might as well just buy 3 day seasons as they'd be tending towards the same price as a day ticket.  The putative three day season would have to be about one and a half times the day ticket (or 3/4 of the 7 day ticket) to work AFAICS^▸ (As Far As I Can See).

It often seems to me to come down to the fact that season ticket holders don't seem to realise what a bargain they are getting already...

Paul

[johoare]

I saw them talking about this on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) breakfast news this morning.. And they were getting so worried about removing staff from trains and how that would reduce safety.. I wondered if they knew that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) turbos never have extra staff (other than the driver obviously) and sometimes late in the evening I feel quite unsafe.. I'd love for all trains to have a guard/ticket inspector back..

[Deltic]

Total smartcard perfection might require 100% barriered stations but if you have a system like Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) where you get charged a high fare if you don't touch out at the end of your journey, that forces you to pay the fare as long as there is a barrier at one end of the journey.  And most journeys are either to / from a large or medium-sized station.

I agree that we should keep the staff on trains as much as possible for reassurance, ticket / smartcard checking and advice on changing trains etc.  Perhaps some ticket offices could be converted into retail outlets that could be viable businesses as well as selling rail tickets?  Could be a win-win?

[JayMac]

How will Smartcards work at places like Berney Arms, Altnabraec, Pilning, Dovey Junction......

Can't possibly have barriers at these and hundreds of other stations. Installation of card readers alone would be astronomically expensive. What about turning up and wishing to load your PAYG^▸ (Pay as you go) balance? That also requires some sort of machine that would need to be geared up to accept cash and cards.

So, touching in will have to be on board with guards carrying the necessary equipment to read, top-up or deduct the correct fare. Will that be practical? Or more importantly, cost effective?

[ellendune]

I agree that perfection would require all stations to have barriers, but we live in an imperfect world.

Other countries trust people to touch in at little used stations.  Indeed the touch reader could be on the train.  A (what do they call travelling ticket inspectors now?) with a card reader could check cards and any card not touched in would be travelling without a ticket. There that wasn't difficult was it now. 

Incidentally if the card registered what train you were or we could get rid of ORCATS^▸ (Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services) and have a true allocation of income between operators. 

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From Railnews:

The Department for Transport has been revealed to be planning to close some ticket offices at smaller stations, as part of its plan to reduce railway costs, even though a consultation is under way.

But leaked emails reveal that it is holding back on admitting the closures, while negotiations continue with at least one operator. The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) is also hoping to make the operators seem responsible for the cutbacks, which have already sparked a wave of public opposition.

The emails, which were revealed by the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) and have been seen by Railnews, disclose that talks are well under way with London Midland, and that 'the Minister' (Theresa Villiers) has given her approval.

However, in public the Department is still maintaining that no decisions have been made. One of the emails, from a member of DfT staff in the Department's Rail Fares and Ticketing Review unit, even praises a press officer for implying that the operators are responsible, saying that: 'your way of slipping in there that the initiative comes from TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) not us is very neat'.

When questioned about the emails, transport minister Norman Baker said the civil servant concerned was 'junior', and had jumped the gun, and maintained that no decisions had been made.

When she launched the Command Paper at the end of March, transport secretary Justine Greening said she was targeting railway costs of up to ^3.5 billion a year. The Paper followed Sir Roy McNulty's recommendations that operators should take a critical look at station staffing, and in particular that the ticket offices at Category E stations should be considered for closure. He also said that the opening hours at Category D stations should be reduced.

This proposal, which is proving to be one of the most controversial from McNulty, was not included in the summary report given to the media when the document was published last May, and only appears on page 208 of the 'detailed report', which was issued afterwards.

[Rhydgaled]

I'm not neally as concerned about ticket offices as other facilities that could be lost if stations become unstaffed. A ticket office is only a slight step up from a ticket machine, so as long as at least one such machine is provided instead it isn't such a big loss. However, things like toilets and waiting rooms are irreplacable and we need them at more stations, not less. If they can be provided with little or no permenant staffing (as an example, public toilets are not permenantly staffed, they get cleaned and restocked once or twice a day), great, but vandalisim is a concern if things like waiting rooms are provided without staff to watch over them. If you travel by car, you do not have to stand around in freezing winds waiting for connections, more waiting rooms are therefore needed to help make public transport more attractive.

[dog box]

Ticket Machines cannot give travel information and answer questions, they still need people to service them, but then again tickets will be avalible from the local library or post office......hang on a minuite havent they all closed already .

[SapperPsmith]

A smartcard does not require 100% barriers - indeed the next generation of smartcards may not even need gates at major stations.  Secondly if we are going to reduce the cost of rail travel we have to get better productivity and this means moving staff from ticket windows.  Cinemas have done away with ticket windows but they still have staff doing stuff which benefits customers.  The ITSO smartcard trials have used stations without barriers and I am not aware of problems - as with ungated TfL^» (Transport for London - about) stations passengers have to swipe in and out or get a big bill.

I stress I am not advocating an unmanned system but we must deploy staff in a way which gives passengers confidence but doesnt import excessive costs.  There are some suburban railways which already do this.

Finally we will soon see TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) with a link to a person via a web cam and this will enable passengers to discuss thier ticket need without having to understand the railway language used on TVMs (where is London Terminals?).

[paul7575]

The ITSO smartcard trials have used stations without barriers and I am not aware of problems - as with ungated TfL^» (Transport for London - about) stations passengers have to swipe in and out or get a big bill.

AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) none of the various ITSO trials include a 'stored balance' (aka PAYG^▸ (Pay as you go)) facility,  hence because the only products you can put on the cards are seasons or point to point tickets, failure to touch in or out is not yet an issue.

In the early days of Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) in London, they only held seasons - and season ticket holders quickly learnt that not touching in or out at their (ie TfL's) small number of ungated stations didn't matter.  It was only when PAYG came in, and the facility to use a season and PAYG combination was added, that failure to touch in or out became a big issue for TfL, quickly leading to the realisation that PAYG had to include a maximum charge on entry with a rebate on exit.  ITSO has yet to deal with any of that stuff...

Paul