Contributions
939 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesThe hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: customer care is at the forefront of this change. At the moment, a customer can go to a station and purchase a ticket from an office behind…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesAs part of this process, a number of stations will not be included. They tend to be bigger hub stations, as we call them, so Edinburgh is not included in that regard. I may be in…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI can give my hon. Friend that assurance. I would certainly be delighted to meet him and any other hon. and right hon. Members who wish to meet me to discuss this issue. Again,…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesYes. I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I hope that these changes will lead to more face-to-face interaction, because those who work on the railway and provide such…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI can give my hon. Friend and neighbour that assurance. Again, I would encourage hon. Members to look at the train operators in their area to see what the plans would mean. A…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesAgain, I point to the accessibility stats. There was a 68% increase in the number of passengers who needed assistance at stations, so it surely makes sense to free up people who…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesYes—any currently staffed station will not become unstaffed as a result of these changes. As I have said, 43% of stations do not have ticket office staff, but if the stations that…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI am putting the travelling public first when I make these points. What the right hon. Lady and others cannot deny, despite saying it cannot be believed, is that 10 years ago one…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesThe changes mean that some staff may be best deployed on the platforms, because that is where they are seeing most of the passengers and some of them need their help. There may be…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI will certainly do so, with my right hon. and learned Friend, and I will share a bit of experience that led me to want more in this direction. I need to get a weekly travel card,…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI say respectfully to the hon. Member that Southeastern has had its best performance in six years. He stood in this place in January rightly saying that changes in the December…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI think I see the Beatles analogy, because there is a ticket to ride process— [ Interruption. ] Okay, that was it. That process is available to anybody who wishes to pay cash. For…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI have stood at the Dispatch Box and assured the hon. Lady that the maintenance improvements for Luton station will start in August and will be delivered by the beginning of next…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesYes; the way in which the ticketing and settlement agreement process works means that anyone can access it online, but they can also write. Details will be available at stations,…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI was not even aware that I had started a Beatles analogy. Actually, this is more important than joking about music; this is about reassuring passengers that we can deliver a…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesYes, I can. I thank my hon. Friend for his points. I know that he has busy stations and will want to ensure that his constituents are looked after. The very first meeting that I…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI will be looking to speak to the Scottish Executive. In Scotland, similar proposals have, as I understand it, been rolled out to a number of ticket stations by ScotRail. I want…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesIt is because we want to give that better customer experience, so that more passengers are seeing more staff at the stations to help them with information, make them feel more…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI will look back on our notes from that meeting and work out what was said. The train operators have put forward these proposals because they are required to look at their…06 Jul 2023HANSARD Rail Ticket OfficesI have the greatest respect for the hon. Member and I will certainly look at what more can be done. We are keen to roll out more pay-as-you-go. There will be 400 stations by the…06 Jul 2023