Buxton and Whaley Bridge to lose railway ticket offices

Ticket offices at Northern stations across the High Peak will be closing.

A public consultation has been launched over the future of ticket offices which will see the closure of both Whaley Bridge and Buxton as well as more than 100 ticket offices on Northern routes.

A spokesperson for Northern said: “Across many areas of life, the way people access services and buy products has changed. Northern customers are no different and we need to modernise to respond to their changing needs.“As customer habits have changed, people have moved to other, more convenient ways of buying tickets.

“Many people prefer to buy online or use apps, a trend that is expected to continue.“As the railways adapts to evolving customer behaviour and to ensure that it can thrive in the long-term, the industry needs to modernise how rail tickets are sold.”

Northern state that only 18 stations will retain a ticketing office presence, and the only one in the High Peak will be Glossop.

Nicola Cousins, a resident in Whaley Bridge, said: “ I am concerned the closure of our local railway ticket office will have a very negative impact on our station, town and residents who travel by train.

“Our station waiting rooms have been lovingly and skillfully restored in recent years by the Friends of Whakey Bridge Station, complete with original fireplace, benching and even a loo.

“Without anyone to run our ticket office who will unlock and lock these spaces and keep an eye on them?

“Our ticket office entrance is a real focal point of the station area and our ticket/station master is so friendly and helpful.

“It will be a real shame to lose him. He knows the best ticket prices unlike the websites and platform ticket machine which frequently stops working in bad weather.”

Nev Clarke director of Friends Of Whaley Bridge Station said: “This is the oldest station on the Buxton to Manchester line and to lose it will be a real shame.

“The ticket office is currently staffed 7am to 2.30pm Monday to Saturdays and this will be replaced with personnel on the platforms 11am to 1pm on weekdays and 9am to 11am on Saturdays and with nowhere for people to wait in bad weather - it’s a terrible idea.

“I know how people book trains has changed but this will be a real loss for the community and I worry that a building with such history is going to sit empty and become derelict.

“It also mean the vulnerable members of our community who don’t like paying for things online may struggle.”

A Northern spokesperson added: “Customers who can only pay with cash and do not have access to a ticket office should get a Promise to Pay notice from a ticket machine before getting onto a train.

“A Promise to Pay notice allows them to board a train as long as they exchange the notice for a ticket and pay in cash at the first opportunity, either on board from a conductr, or from a ticket office.

The consultation on the changes ends on Friday July, 28 and to have your say visit https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/consultation-2023