THE ticket office at Bridgwater railway station could close between October 2023 and June 2024 if proposals to ‘modernise ticket sales’ go ahead. 

The Rail Delivery Group has put forward plans to shut almost all of the country's ticket offices to move staff onto station platforms and concourses.

It says the proposals would increase face-to-face support for customers across the railway network, helping them choose the cheapest tickets and get journey advice.

The Department for Transport has backed the ‘need for modernisation’ and says the scheme is “not about cutting jobs”. 

However, the plans have come under fire from Bridgwater MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, who believes ticket office closures would inconvenience passengers – especially people who cannot purchase tickets online.

Labour town councillors have also voiced their opposition to the proposals, saying ticket office staff are “undervalued” and encourage railway use.

Great Western Railway (GWR), which runs Bridgwater station, has launched an online consultation on the plans to move staff out of ticket offices.

The operator says only 14.5 per cent of GWR tickets are sold at ticket offices, compared to 82 per cent in 1996. 

In Bridgwater, 20.1 per cent of tickets (34,272) were sold at the ticket office in the last financial year, compared to 10.9 per cent at the vending machine (18,611) and 69 per cent online (117,485).

Cash payments were used for 28.3 per cent of all transactions (9,691).

If the proposals go ahead, changes would be made at Bridgwater station between October 2023 and June 2024, according to documents published by GWR.

These would see “colleagues move closer to customers in other locations at the station to support and assist with ticket purchases” and “ticket office windows close”. 

Bridgwater Mercury: A consultation is underway on the plans to ‘modernise ticket sales’.A consultation is underway on the plans to ‘modernise ticket sales’. (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

Bridgwater's ticket office is currently open between 6.30am and 2.15pm on weekdays and Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays. 

Under the proposals, the station would be staffed during the same hours.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “These industry-led consultations are about enhancing the role of station workers and getting staff out from behind ticket office screens and into more active, customer-facing roles that will allow them to better support all passengers.

“This is not about cutting jobs – no station which is currently staffed will be unstaffed as a result of these proposed reforms.

“We have been consistently honest about the need for our railways to modernise if they are going to survive. Reviewing the role of ticket offices – with the least busy selling only one ticket an hour – is a crucial part of this.”

The consultation is running until Wednesday, July 26.