National ticket office consultation extended
• Consultation period extended until 1 September
• Input from customers and independent watchdogs will help shape final proposals, so that all customers are supported as the railway responds to generational shifts in buying habits
East Midlands Railway (EMR), along with other train operators, is extending the time available to respond to the consultation reviewing how tickets are sold at stations by an extra five and a half weeks.
It means customers will now have until 1 September to respond to the consultation. Details on how to respond are on EMR's website https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/modernisation-consultation, a poster at a train station or via one of the independent passenger watchdogs London Travel Watch or Transport Focus, either online on via post.
Information about the consultation is also available in accessible formats. These can be requested via our Customer Contact Centre via one of the below methods:
Email: contact@eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk
Phone: 03457 125 678
Whatsapp: +44 7501330988
In increasing the time available, EMR hope that more people will have the opportunity to have their say about changes to how tickets are sold at stations.
Together with the extensive and on-going engagement with accessibility groups, as well as the independent passenger watchdogs scrutinising the proposals, the responses will shape final plans so that all customers are supported as railway retailing is updated for the smartphone era.
In addition to these proposals, the rail industry continues to roll out improvements to ticketing such as pay as you go and single leg pricing.
Although local plans vary, overall the proposals aim to bring staff out from behind ticket office windows to provide more support for customers buying tickets and navigating stations, as they move in to new, multi-skilled roles.
The proposals would help bring station retailing up to date from the mid 90’s, when the rules on how to sell tickets were set and before the invention of the smartphone. Back then, more than 80% of all tickets were sold at ticket offices, compared to just 12% nationally and fewer than 5% at EMR stations on average today – a generational shift the railway must respond to at a time when revenue remains 30% below pre-pandemic levels.
Ticket vending machines across the network will be upgraded to sell a greater range of tickets and in rare cases where customers are unable to buy the ticket they need at a station, they would be able to buy on their journey, at a ticket selling facility en-route or at their end destination.
Contact Information
James Coxon
Media Relations Manager
East Midlands Railway
07919 217917
Notes to editors
Notes to editors:
• The consultation will now run until 1 September. Customers who have already responded do not need to do so again, as all responses received so far will be valid.
• The proposals will not impact turn up and go. Customers will still be able to book assistance two hours in advance of their journey either using the Passenger Assist app or via a dedicated phone-line available 24/7 and you they will always be able to access help and advice from a trained representative.
• Many operators are creating more mobile assistance teams to move between stations and offer extra help where needed and customer help points can be used to get assistance at many stations.