Greater Anglia application to change ticket office hours – Transport Focus response

10 April 2017

Greater Anglia is proposing to proceed with an application to close the ticket offices shown below where they believe ticket sales are very low and there are currently, or will shortly be, alternative ticket buying facilities.

Station Current Opening Hours Monday – Friday Saturday Sunday Alresford 0700-1100 0900-1300 Closed Dovercourt 0540-1250 0540-1250 Closed Great Bentley 0700-1100 0900-1300 Closed Great Chesterford 0615-1100 Closed Closed Harwich International 0630-1930 0630-1930 0630-1930 Thorpe le Soken 0515-2245 0540-2250 0715-2300 Walton on Naze 0600-1330 0600-1330 0840-1610

Other proposed changes

At Harwich International one post would remain to be present at the only time of any demand when there are cruise ship in port and to act as a mobile host for adjacent stations.

At Thorpe le Soken a post would also be retained to act as a mobile station host within that area.

Transport Focus decision

As part of a consultation process usually carried out with such proposals, passengers were invited to submit their views to Transport Focus. This elicited some 209 individual contacts as well as six petitions, each with numerous signatories. All but one of these approaches objected to the proposal, clearly demonstrating the importance of this issue to passengers at the affected stations. Transport Focus recognises and shares many of those concerns.

While Transport Focus appreciates that from time to time it is appropriate to review station arrangements, we are keenly aware that any withdrawal of ticket-office staffing effectively removes all official staff presence on the station – and the benefits which that brings – a matter causing anguish for many passengers and concern to ourselves.

We are opposing the proposals and have written with our response to Greater Anglia, a copy of which can be found here.

We will be meeting Greater Anglia to discuss our response.

This decision by Transport Focus does not veto the proposals as we do not have that legal power.