Further to the announcement today by the Minister of State for Transport, asking all train operators to withdrawal their proposals to close ticket offices, further to a consultation earlier this year. I have written to the Managing Director of West Midlands Trains, seeking clarification that Kidderminster Ticket Office shall remain open.
Rail Stations Ticket Office Consultation
Since a consultation was launched into the future of ticket offices at railway stations across England, I have been campaigning for the Government to look at this issue again.
As I said in my consultation response, Kidderminster is the second busiest train station in Worcestershire and prior to the pandemic saw approx 2.2 million journeys in and out per year. Kidderminster train station provides an important service to the second largest community within Worcestershire within a commutable distance to Birmingham and for school children into Worcester or Stourbridge/Hagley.
Removing the ticket office from one of the busiest train Stations outside of Birmingham would have been detrimental to the people Wyre Forest and surrounding areas.
Following an extensive Consultation, the Government has now stated that it expects Train Operating Companies to now withdraw their proposals and for no ticket offices to close.
Therefore, I’m writing to you to ask you to confirm that there are now no plans to close the Kidderminster Station ticket office.
I know many of my constituents are rightly worried and I’m sure they would be grateful for swift reassurance on this issue.
