Bolton train station protest over ticket office closures

The Bolton Pensioners Association were at Lostock Train Station and Bolton Train Station to raise awareness of the controversial move to shut ticket offices in a number of statoins and to get support from commuters against the move, which is currently being consulted on.

Farnworth, Lostock and Bromley Cross train stations are among the 1,000 ticket offices earmarked for closure.

This means customers at these stations will not be able to buy tickets over the counter but would be still use the trainline app and ticket machine.

Secretary of the Pensioners Association, Bernadette Gallagher said: “It’s all part of a policy to get everything digitalised to stop face-to-face communications and we think that older more vulnerable people as well as some young people need that direct contact with a human being.

“They might be able to get cheaper tickets if they talk to somebody or the machine might not be working.”

Many people rushing to get trains stopped to sign the petition and said they either used the ticket office themselves or had elderly relatives who did.

One woman said: “There’s not enough staff on hand anyway and the machines do not always work.

“They’re red hot on charging you if you do not have a ticket and I was fined for this when the machine was not working.

“I’ve used this line for 15 years and never not bought a ticket but in this instance, I physically could not buy one.”

Bernadette and her team want to stop the closures and plan to lobby MPs to get them to back the campaign.

The campaign also wants to highlight that while Bolton Station is not one of the planned closures, closures of other ticket officers could set a precedent.

Bernadette said: “The consultation says the plan is to get people onto the platforms quicker and while that will happen at first, over a period of time it is about cutting money.

“We’ve got some of the worse services in Europe anyway and some of the highest ticket costing so this will just make it worse.”

The Railway Delivery Group said last week that just 12 per cent of tickets were sold from traditional offices last year, suggesting the ticket offices were not needed.

The roles of those behind the desk will instead be transferred to Some rail users said they were in support of the closure.

One man said: “I do not need to use the ticket office because you can do everything on the machines or on a phone.

“We’ve got to move forward at some point, we don’t need people here selling tickets when there is an easier way.”