July has thrown a lot of things at us so far. The worst of which has been the announcement of plans to close all the ticket offices at railway stations across the country.
I have made lots of posts all over social media since the announcement as have many others, encouraging people to go to the consultation website and leave feedback.
My local ticket office has loomed large in my life for the last few years. It is where I met my other half and it was a place a community (at required social distances) during the lockdown. The community surrounding the ticket office could easily be a source for a sitcom or one of those gentle Sunday evening comedy dramas of the 90s. And that’s what will be destroyed by this heartless policy. The faceless, mindless commuters don’t care, their faces buried in their phone to prevent even a chance of eye contact with another traveller, but the leisure travellers do. They are friendlier, and chattier and often need help planning the route and finding the best-priced ticket. The act of buying a ticket is part of the adventure of going on a journey. You don’t get decent travel advice off a machine, nor reassurances over connections, and it really doesn’t give a shit where you are going or why. It’s a soulless machine designed to take your money and if the inner workings haven’t got a bit damp it may even actually dispense you a ticket.
You will barely have time to get used to the machines before they too are made redundant and dismissed to silicon heaven. Apps are what the government want, so they can see what journeys you make and adjust the fares (upward) accordingly. We will soon be looking at Uber-style surge-charging on the trains so you can never be quite sure if you will be able to afford to travel on any given day unless you have booked in advance. So please make sure that your family and friends plan all emergencies in advance so you don’t go into your overdraft rushing to their sides to give sympathy or support, particularly at peak times and during busy holiday times.
Public transport is for the people, and ripping the humanity out of it rips communities apart too. That’s want they want though, isn’t it? Communities are scary things to those in power, they may come together and scupper moneymaking plans and deals with crony mates wearing the old school tie and giving funny handshakes.
If you want to have your say about the ticket office closures the link to the Travel Focus page is below.
Thank you.
