PROTESTS are being held at railway stations – including at Durham and Darlington – in a bid to stop ticket office hours from being cut.

Rail union RMT staged protests at Newcastle Central and Durham today (December 13), and will be in Darlington and York on Wednesday, against LNER’s proposed cuts to ticket office hours at 13 stations on its network.

The RMT is calling on LNER to stop the cuts, saying they would worsen passenger safety, security and accessibility by reducing the time that staff are guaranteed to be present at the ticket office.

The union also say the cuts will make it harder for passengers to get the cheapest and most appropriate fare for their journey and restrict the advice they can currently access in the ticket office.

They believe it would deter passengers from using the rail network and hinder the post-Covid recovery of the railway.

Read more: LNER plans to cut opening hours at offices in Darlington and Durham

The proposals would affect Berwick-upon-Tweed, Darlington, Doncaster, Durham, Edinburgh, Grantham, London King's Cross, Newark North Gate, Newcastle, Peterborough, Retford, Wakefield Westgate and York stations.

The proposed cuts would see the ticket offices at these stations open later and close earlier and, in many cases, would lead to a significant reduction in opening hours.

At Darlington, the ticket office currently opens Monday to Thursday, 6am to 8pm, Friday, 6am to 9pm, Saturday, 6am to 7.45pm, and Sunday, 8am to 8pm.

The proposal would see them operate Monday to Friday, 6am to 7pm, Saturday, 7am to 9pm, Sunday, 8am to 6pm.

At Durham, the office is open from Monday to Thursday, 6am to 7.30pm, Friday, 6am to 8pm, Saturday, 6am to 7pm, Sunday, 8am to 8pm.

The new hours would be Monday to Friday, 6am to 6pm, Saturday, 7am to 5pm, and Sunday, 9am to 4pm.

The RMT’s first protest, at Berwick last week, marked the start of its Staff our Stations campaign.

General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “At these events, RMT will be telling passengers across the North East about the threats to stations and the proposals to significantly reduce ticket office opening hours at key stations on the LNER network.

"These demonstrations will send a clear message to the Government, and train companies such as LNER, that cuts to stations and ticket offices run counter to what passengers want and will do nothing to support the post-Covid recovery of the sustainable rail network.

"In fact, research by the Government’s own watchdog has found that passengers want to see more, not less staff.

"Rather than cynically exploiting the Covid crisis to cut station staffing and attack ticket offices, the Government should be investing in creating a sustainable, reliable, accessible rail network in public ownership, which works for passengers, not profit.

"RMT’s is continuing to ramp up its Staff our Stations campaign to oppose cuts which make the railway less safe, secure and accessible for passengers and will be replicating this activity around the country in coming months.”

A spokesperson for LNER said the changes are proposed “to reflect the reduced level of customer demand during these times”.

Outside of travel centre opening times, tickets can be bought at vending machines on station concourses, they added.

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