Clarification sought on rail ticket office closure rumours that could affect Alnmouth, Berwick and Morpeth

Meanwhile, a Berwick county councillor has asked for urgent clarification on the future of the ticket office at Berwick Railway Station after sources suggested to her that the facility will soon be permanently closed.

Last year, analysis by the RMT suggested that more than 1,000 ticketing offices across 15 different operators were at risk, including Alnmouth and Morpeth.

The operators named by RMT included Northern, Great Northern and Thameslink, Great Western Railway and Southeastern.

Also in 2022, a drastic reduction in opening times at the travel centre in the Berwick station came into effect.

Georgina Hill, Berwick East councillor and rail campaigner, contacted LNER yesterday (Thursday) to ask the following: ‘I have heard today, from reliable sources, that the ticket office at Berwick Railway Station will soon be permanently closed.

‘Could you please confirm the truth in this, the rationale/justification and when this will come into effect?’

In a separate statement, Coun Hill said: “However they try to dress this up and conduct sham consultations, this is a measure to reduce staffing costs to the huge detriment of customer service and passenger experience.

“No thought is being given to the elderly, those with learning and other difficulties or those who just want to speak to a human being when they navigate their travel options.

“Rail policy has been a disaster area under successive governments over decades and this should be considered in the context of the plan to spend £100billion on HS2.”

Berwick North county councillor Catherine Seymour said: “This is very disappointing news if our railway station ticket office is slated for closure and I have written to LNER and asked for support from our MP to get some comfort that this will not be the case and to keep it open.

“This is a very busy cross border station and we have many members of the public that rely on the good service that the Berwick staff provide at the station – and we have had to cope already with the hours reduced in the ticket office last year, so closure would be the final nail.”

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “There are rumours circulating online that the Department for Transport plans to announce mass ticket office closures next week.

“The train operating companies and the Government must understand that we will vigorously oppose any moves to close ticket offices.

“We will not meekly sit by and allow thousands of jobs to be sacrificed or see disabled and vulnerable passengers left unable to use the railways as a result.

“RMT will bring into effect the full industrial force of the union to stop any plans to close ticket offices, including our upcoming strike days of July 20, 22 and 29 in the national rail dispute.”

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which was set-up to bring together the owners of Britain’s passenger train operating companies, freight operators and Network Rail, said: “The industry has always been open and honest about the need for the railway to evolve with its customers so it can better meet their needs and secure a thriving long-term future for an economically vital service.

“For over a year it has been negotiating a package with the RMT on those reforms, which include moving staff from ticket offices to concourses where, with extra training, they will be better able to help more customers, not just with buying tickets, but also offering travel advice and helping those with accessibility needs.

“This is in recognition of the fact that ticket office sales have dropped from 85% in 1995 when the rules on selling tickets were last reviewed, to 12% on average today.

“Sadly, those talks have stalled with the RMT executive’s repeated refusal to put an offer of up to 13% over two years for the lowest paid – alongside job guarantees – to its membership to a vote. The railway is too vital to those who depend on it for negotiations to continue to go round in circles with a union seemingly intent on prolonging the current dispute.

“While the industry is now looking at how to move forward, any changes would be subject to employee and public consultations. Staff always remain front of mind so as you would expect from a responsible employer, if and when the time comes for proposals on ticket offices to be published, they will be the first to know.”