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Rail ticket office closures a ‘retrograde step’

Thursday, 27 July 2023 08:30

By Guy Henderson, Local Democracy Reporter

The campaign to save Devon’s railway ticket offices has received the unanimous support of Teignbridge councillors.

Members of the full council this week agreed to protest to the government over plans to shut ticket offices at stations such as Newton Abbot and Teignmouth.
Rail operators say fewer people buy tickets at station counters these days, with most booking online or using ticket machines. But in places such as Devon with older populations, the figures are much higher.
Consultation had been due to end yesterday [Wednesday] but has now been extended after angry protests.
“This will disproportionately affect the disabled and the elderly,” said the council’s deputy leader Richard Keeling (Lib Dem, Chudleigh). 
Leader Martin Wrigley (Lib Dem, Dawlish NE) added: “This is not good enough. It is a retrograde step, and not something we should be allowing to pass without registering our discomfort.”
Members heard that in some stations, such as Teignmouth, the ticket machine was too high to be reached by wheelchair users.
And Cllr John Farrand-Rogers (Lib Dem, Moretonhampstead) said: “I am desperately concerned at the dangerous assumption that everybody has access to the internet and an iPhone.”

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