Call for mayors to take control of railway stations after controversial ticket office closure plans

Kim McGuinness, currently Northumbria’s police and crime commissioner, says plans to close stations’ ticket offices across the region “show that neither rail franchisees nor Government ministers can be trusted to invest in our infrastructure”.

Northern Railway plans to close ticket offices at 131 stations nationally. Between them rail operators intend to close around 1,000. This means that the ticket office currently being built at Sunderland’s new £26million station might never open. Under the proposals, the nearest ticket office would be in Newcastle and job losses are feared.

Ms McGuinness said: “Rail station devolution needs to be in the next devolution deal, and as mayor I’ll fight to take stations out of the hands of private companies and back in to local control.

“Our train stations are community assets, but they are being run-down by train companies who would rather they were nothing more than a platform.

“What they need is long-term investment so they can be safe, thriving stations that support small independent businesses and community groups.

“The public should be able to elect councils and mayors who can work together to safeguard these key community assets instead of watching as train firms turn their back on them.”

The other major parties are yet to announce their candidates for the mayoral election.

Lib Dem deputy leader on Sunderland City Council, Cllr Heather Fagan said: “Rail bosses need to think again about the absurdity of closing a brand new ticket office at Sunderland.”

But Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents mainline train companies, has defended the plans.

She said: “While local plans vary, the aim of the proposals is to bring staff out from behind ticket office windows to offer more help for customers buying tickets and navigating stations.

“At the same time ticket vending machines are being upgraded to offer a wider range of fares, and we have committed that no customer will have to go out of their way to buy a ticket.

The public can contribute to a consultatio by visiting www.transportfocus.org.uk.