Politicians have attacked a “complete and utter waste” of public money if a £27m railway station’s new ticket office is axed under mass closure plans.

A new ticket office is part of a huge renovation project aimed at dramatically transforming Sunderland station into a transport hub fit for the 21st century.

But, before that enormous refurbishment is even completed, the city faces the prospect of losing its ticket office under controversial cuts unveiled by rail operators earlier this month.

The contentious move would leave Newcastle and Hartlepool stations as the only two remaining ticket offices in the North East – with the likes of Hexham, Durham, and Morpeth among those also being closed.

Sunderland City Council leader Graeme Miller told the North East Joint Transport Committee (JTC) on Tuesday that the idea was “nonsense” and “completely the wrong thing to do”.

He said: “We are the biggest city south of the Tyne. We are the biggest city that covers the Durham coast line. We are building a brand new station with a ticket office – that’s Government money – and that is a complete and utter waste if this goes ahead and we don’t have ticket offices.” 

Industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has said it wants to “modernise customer service”, with only 12% of tickets being purchased at ticket offices, and insists that staff will be moved onto station platforms and concourses instead.

But there has been an outpouring of worry for passengers who do rely on ticket offices, particularly disabled people and those without access to the internet, and a threat of legal action for Northerm mayors to halt the plans.

In a letter to rail companies on Tuesday, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness called the plans “entirely self-defeating”.

Addressing the Sunderland closure despite the station’s ongoing revamp, she added: “When this investment was announced by Network Rail in 2021 it specifically included plans for a ticket office. This commitment should be honoured.”

The Sunderland refurbishment has been part-funded by the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund, with further cash coming from the city council, Nexus, and Network Rail.

Ms McGuinness, who was named on Monday as Labour’s candidate for the North East mayoral election next year, said the mass closures of ticket offices risked the rail network becoming a “no-go area for many thousands of people across the North East”. 

She added: “People in hardship will be priced out of the best deals, people with disabilities will have to weigh up the risks of using a service which is being redesigned without them.”

At Tuesday’s JTC meeting, Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon called the closures “irrational” and said that the Sunderland proposal in particular was an “absolute disgrace”.

Northumberland Tory leader Glen Sanderson, whose county faces the loss of its four ticket offices, added that the plan “doesn’t make sense at a time when we are pouring good money into a rail and buses”.

He said: “Regular users might not be as affected by this, but it is the people just starting to use the train. People who are new rail users will need more information. People who are older, who need a bit of extra help if something goes wrong with a delayed train or something.
“Visitors are very important to all our councils and often they will need that extra help that makes a journey better.”

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “Across all business sectors the way people consume, access and purchase products and services has changed. Rail is no different – only 1 in 6 journeys on Northern services are purchased through a ticket office, this compares to almost half of all journeys in 2018. We need to modernise to meet the changing needs of our customers and we are seeking views from the public on these proposals.

“Along with the rest of the rail industry, Northern is sharing proposals on how we plan to change how we support customers at our stations. These proposals include the creation of a new, more visible customer facing role that will offer a wider range of support across our stations. This new role will mean that the traditional ticket office is no longer required at most staffed Northern stations, except for 18 at hub locations, that will have amended ticket office opening hours.”