Under plans put forward by South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, ticket offices in Exmouth, Honiton, Exeter St David’s, Feniton, and Axminister were set to be closed with staffing cuts at some stations. The Transport Secretary said the proposals did not meet the high thresholds of serving passengers set by Ministers, and asked train operators to withdraw their proposals today.
As a regular passenger from Honiton, I made my views clear about the plans for our local ticket offices to South Western Railway and Great Western Railway as East Devon’s MP and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Transport Secretary.
I urged residents to have their say in the public consultation and took local concerns about plans for our stations directly to the Transport Secretary.
The Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, said; “The consultation on ticket offices has now ended, with the Government making clear to the rail industry throughout the process that any resulting proposals must meet a high threshold of serving passengers.
“We have engaged with accessibility groups throughout this process and listened carefully to passengers as well as my colleagues in Parliament. The proposals that have resulted from this process do not meet the high thresholds set by Ministers, and so the Government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals.
“We will continue our work to reform our railways with the expansion of contactless Pay As You Go ticketing, making stations more accessible through our Access for All programme and £350 million funding through our Network North plan to improve accessibility at up to 100 stations.”