By Press Release
This week South Western Railway (SWR) announced a proposal to close the rail ticket offices in Shanklin and Ryde, the only ones remaining on the Island.
It forms part of a national proposal to shut down almost all of the 1,007 remaining offices in England within three years, except at the busiest stations. The plans are said to be an attempt to modernise the railway.
SWR says its objective is to enhance face-to-face customer support. As part of the plan, the company intends to retrain all staff members to ensure they possess the necessary skills to provide comprehensive assistance to travelling members of the public with different aspects of their train travel, from journey planning to ticket purchasing. They claim the impact on ticket purchasing options, staffing levels, and services for disabled travellers, will be carefully evaluated by the watchdog organisation, Transport Focus. The closures are not anticipated to take place until September.
The company said there has been a significant decline in ticket office usage over the past decade, with many customers opting for more convenient alternatives such as ticket vending machines and on-line purchases as part of a “generational shift in customer behaviour and digital capability.”
Under the proposed changes, Shanklin Railway Station will be unstaffed on Mondays and Sundays, and staffed for four hours between 6am and 10am from Tuesday to Friday. On Saturdays, staff will be available from 9am to 1pm. At Ryde Esplanade, staff will be present from 6am to 7pm daily. Tickets at the station would have to be purchased on-line or from a machine outside of those hours. Southampton, Portsmouth Harbour and Portsmouth & Southsea stations would be manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Lymington Pier station is already unmanned and will remain so.
Managing director of SWR, Claire Mann, said station staff play an important role in delivering a positive customer experience. She said: “By multi-skilling our colleagues, we can offer a customer service that aligns with what customers actually want and need, in line with their expectations from modern retailing.
“Technology has already enabled significant change at our stations, with 75 per cent of passenger journeys made using smart media today. Our proposal simply seeks to build on these existing trends.
“We are consulting widely on our proposals and welcome feedback to help ensure a smooth transition to a more modern, customer focussed experience at our stations.”
You can see the full proposals from SWR at iow.life/stationchanges. You can respond to them at iow.life/ticketoffice, email your views to TicketOffice.SWR@transportfocus.org.uk, or write to the Freepost address at RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ, Transport Focus, PO Box 5594, Southend on Sea, SS1 9PZ.
Mal Butler