Scotrail under fire for shake-up plans at 120 ticket offices

Ticket offices could close at some Scottish railway stations as part of the first overhaul of the service in three decades, but critics have blasted the plans claiming they will hit passengers and undermine station safety.

Scotrail’s ticket office consultation said 120 stations would be impacted, some by minor changes but three ticket offices face the axe and others could see reduced opening hours.

Phil Campbell, its head of customer operations, said: “There has been no real review of our ticket office opening hours for 30 years, and it is important we keep up with the changing habits of customers who no longer rely on purchasing tickets in that way.”

He added: “With more than a 50% drop in the use of ticket offices, heightened by the pandemic, we want to do everything we can to make sure everyone has a hassle-free journey.”

Mr Campbell said no jobs would be lost and the changes were “about adding value for our staff and customers”.

After the plans were revealed yesterday Scottish Labour transport spokesman Neil Bibby said: “Whatever Scotrail might say, these cuts will hit passengers, threaten jobs and undermine station safety.”

Scotrail said the proposals would achieve aims, including less fare fraud and ticketless travel, generate and protect more revenue, cut antisocial behaviour, and decrease carbon emissions by about 102 tonnes each year.

It added that the number and frequency of services, would not change, that there would be a job for anyone in existing station teams; customer safety would not be affected, and passengers with mobility or access needs would still be supported.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “The aim of this review is to make changes that will ensure the modernisation of Scotland’s stations and offer passengers a more efficient and cost-effective service for the future.”

Transport Focus is conducting the public consultation for Scotrail and Robert Samson, stakeholder manager at the watchdog, said: “It’s important for people to have their say and we urge people to look at Scotrail’s proposals and provide us with comments.”

“There has been no real review of our ticket office opening hours for 30 years

OVERHAUL: Scotrail claims that its proposals are about providing better value for its staff and customers.