Require train operators keep ticket offices and platform staff at train stations
The Parliament petitions site records 106,156 signatures for this petition, which closed on 18 October 2023. The Government responded on 11 October 2023.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Require train operators keep ticket offices and platform staff at train stations
We want the Government to require train operators keep ticket offices and platform staff at train stations, to help maintain health and safety standards and customer information.
Train companies provide an important public service, and some are subsidised by the Government, and should be required to maintain standards.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 11 October 2023; the petitions site lists the Department for Transport as responsible. Its summary:
The rail industry has consulted on plans to modernise to provide the service passengers deserve, moving staff from behind ticket office screens to provide help and advice in customer-focused roles.
The response in full:
Together with the rail industry, we want to improve and modernise the experience for passengers by moving staff out from behind the ticket office screens to provide more help and advice in customer-focused roles in the station. No currently staffed station will become unstaffed as a result of this reform, with staff still being there to provide assistance and additional support at stations for those who need and want it. This would include providing assistance in purchasing tickets and providing customer information. When consulting, train operators were required to follow the rules set out in the rail industry’s Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA), and the Government has no role unless objections are referred to the Secretary of State for a decision. We do not therefore plan to require train operators to keep ticket offices and platform staff at train stations.
There has been a significant shift in the way passengers purchase tickets, with just one in every ten transactions taking place at a ticket office in 2022/23, down from one in three a decade earlier. This is equivalent to 13% of revenue in 2022/23. Train operators have therefore consulted on proposals to close ticket offices and move staff out onto stations where they can provide support to passenger where this is needed.
The public consultations on proposed ticket office changes have now closed. The independent passenger bodies, Transport Focus and London TravelWatch, are engaging with train operators on the basis of the consultation responses they have received and the criteria they have set out on how they will consider their responses. Train operators are expected to work collaboratively with passenger bodies in the coming weeks to listen to the concerns raised and to refine their proposals accordingly.
Should ticket offices close following this process, staff would be redeployed and multi-skilled in order to provide advice and assistance across stations. Exact arrangements will vary operator by operator and will be the subject of collective bargaining with the trade unions.
Department for Transport
This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/636542
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 2,925, came from Stourbridge.
105,543 of the signatures were from the UK and 613 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Stourbridge | 2,925 |
| Rayleigh and Wickford | 1,677 |
| Dudley South | 1,063 |
| Dewsbury | 773 |
| Sleaford and North Hykeham | 697 |
| South Holland and The Deepings | 678 |
| Wyre Forest | 661 |
| Wealden | 518 |
| Banbury | 500 |
| Copeland | 445 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 17,195 |
| North West | 15,000 |
| West Midlands | 14,949 |
| East of England | 12,284 |
| South West | 9,518 |
| London | 9,455 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 9,371 |
| East Midlands | 6,828 |
| Scotland | 3,586 |
| North East | 3,532 |
| Wales | 2,964 |
| Northern Ireland | 266 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on .
The Petitions Committee's summary of the debate:
The Petitions Committee has decided not to schedule a debate on this petition, because the Government has asked operators to withdraw their proposals to close ticket offices.
In response to a recent public petition about the closure of a local railway ticket office, the Government said that it had been clear that any proposals to close ticket offices must deliver the highest quality of service for all users of the railway.
The Government said that the proposals that have resulted from the consultation process run by train operators do not meet the high thresholds set by Ministers, and so the Government has asked train operating companies to withdraw their proposals and for no ticket offices to close.
You can read the Government's full response to the public petition here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2023-11-13/debates/23111325000031/StowmarketRailwayStationTicketOffice#contribution-BECE6F3F-F0E2-4015-83BD-561B6C175961
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/636542.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
d10e705abe145015… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.