Greater Anglia consultation on ticket offices 'unlawful', Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority claims

Consultation undertaken by Greater Anglia to gauge public reaction to proposed railway ticket office closures was “unlawful” and should be re-done, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) has claimed.

The authority – responsible for transport in the region – says that people who filled out consultation surveys have been “left in the dark” as to the issues most relevant to the final decision on the rail company’s suite of planned closures.

It also said that by failing to officially commit to following Government procedure around ticket office closures, which sets out the timeline that should be followed from proposal to consultation to action, it was “legally inadequate”.

The CPCA made the comments in a letter to the independent watchdog Transport Focus, which has been tasked with reviewing consultation feedback now that the process has ended.

It also expressed its own view that “staffed, accessible ticket offices are an essential part of the rail network and must be protected”.

Greater Anglia, which is proposing to close its ticket offices in March, Ely, Cambridge and Shelford, says that it “welcomes the feedback that customers and stakeholders have been providing to Transport Focus”.

It also says that the closures would help provide “a more modern and flexible service for customers” after a decline in use and that no station would be left unstaffed as other facilities would remain open and “customer hosts” would be able to provide advice on ticket purchases.

LNER, which operates Peterborough’s Station ticket office, meanwhile, maintains that there are “no immediate plans to change ticket retailing at this station”, although it does propose to close its ticket office at Grantham.

The CPCA says that it is particularly concerned about the impact closures could have on vulnerable people and people with disabilities.

“Removing staff from ticket offices will potentially make train travel unsafe and increasingly stressful as proposed changes will create significant barriers for blind, visually impaired, disabled, and vulnerable train passengers from being able to travel independently, potentially leading to greater isolation,” it said.

It also said that it would have “expected that Equality Impact Assessments of the overall proposal and of changes proposed at individual stations be available”.

Currently, an overarching Equality Impact Assessment for the suite of closures is available on the Greater Anglia website, although not one for each.

There is also information around the changes proposed at each station; for instance, under March, Greater Anglia says: “We would continue to meet all our commitments on providing accessibility for passengers, including passengers with reduced mobility and people requiring in-person assistance. We also would create additional mobile assistance teams, offering greater flexibility and support in providing assistance.”

The CPCA says that questions remain unanswered, however, such as how customers at the March station would access the toilets if the ticket office was closed as they’re currently only accessible through the booking hall.

Because a new ticket office at the station, opened in 2022, was funded as part of numerous £2m upgrades by the public money supplied to Fenland District Council (FDC) by the CPCA, it is moreover “totally unacceptable” to suggest closing it, the authority said.

Recommendations from Transport Focus are expected to all rail companies, which have collectively undertaken a national review of their ticket offices, in the next few weeks before final decisions are made in future.

A Greater Anglia spokesperson said: “We welcome the feedback from customers and stakeholders have been providing to Transport Focus and London TravelWatch about our station proposals, during the consultation period.

"We were keen that the final plans were shaped by that public input. We’re grateful for all the submissions that have been made and we would like to thank everyone who has participated.

“We now look forward to receiving the recommendations of Transport Focus and London TravelWatch in a few weeks’ time, which we will consider carefully and use to inform updated final plans influenced by those suggestions.”