WARRINGTON Borough Council has slammed a proposal to close railway ticket offices across the country.
At the beginning of the month, the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) announced proposals to close down more than 1,000 ticket offices across railway stations in England.
A three-week consultation period was opened on July 5, and was set to close today, July 26.
This consultation will now remain open until September 1.
Four offices in Warrington are earmarked for closure, should the plans be carried forward: Warrington Bank Quay, Warrington West, Birchwood, and Glazebrook.
Warrington Central is currently not facing office closure, though the office's weekly hours would be reduced from 15 hours per day Monday-Saturday down to 12, and down from 12 hours on a Sunday to eight.
This will see the ticket office's hours at Warrington Central slashed from 102 hours per week to 80 hours - a reduction of more than 21 per cent.
Now, Warrington Borough Council has responded to the consultation period for the controversial plans.
The council's cabinet member for transport, Cllr Hans Mundry, said: "Since we first shared our views opposing the frankly disastrous ticket office proposals, we have now submitted our formal representation as part of the consultation.
“We have strongly objected to the inadequate length of the consultation period. At three weeks, the consultation window is far smaller than the standard 12-week consultation period set by the Department for Transport.
"It is a great shame that there has been an unwillingness to offer a significant window of opportunity for people to share their views – the three-week window flies in the face of meaningful engagement and consultation.
“We have also strongly objected to the substantial reduction in the hours of coverage of the proposed ‘Journey Maker’ staff in comparison to the hours currently provided by ticket office staff. These reductions would affect all of Warrington’s staffed stations."
Cllr Mundry continued: “Further, we are particularly concerned that the changes will disproportionately affect vulnerable or elderly residents who may need extra assistance getting out and about on the rail network.
"We have suggested in our response that sufficient pre-engagement work with people who will be most affected by the changes simply has not been done.
“Finally, as we watch coverage about the extreme heatwaves and wildfires experienced in Europe over recent days, it is clear that effects of the climate emergency caused by human activity are having a hugely detrimental impact on communities.
"Getting more people onto public transport is one of the fundamental steps to improve air quality and decarbonise transport. This consultation does nothing to support our collective climate ambitions."
The councillor went on to urge residents to have their say on the plans, using the following website for Warrington Bank Quay: https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/consultation
Residents can access the consultation on other Warrington stations here: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/consultation-2023
Responses can be sent using this website: https://www.transportfocus.org.uk/ticket-office-consultation/
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