Edward has set out his concerns at plans that would see Melton Mowbray and Hinckley stations without staff, aside from a one-off weekly visit, in his formal response to the Train Operating Companies' (TOCs)consultation on proposed changes to ticket offices & staffing at local stations in Leicestershire used by his constituents.
The proposals put forward by the TOCs aim to modernise ticket purchasing at stations to reflect changing patterns of ticket purchasing by customers, seeing ticket office staff out on the station rather than behind the glass of a ticket office. Of the Leicestershire stations included that are used regularly by Charnwood constituents, Leicester station was largely unaffected, with the ticket office remaining in place with slightly reduced hours; Loughborough would see its ticket office closed, but a full-time staff presence on platforms to help customers; but the plans propose that Melton Mowbray and Hinckley stations would see no permanent staff presence, with East Midlands Railways (EMR) staff paying a weekly visit instead.
In his formal response to the consultation, Edward acknowledged the potential benefits of modernising how tickets are sold, to reflect changing customer behaviours, and getting staff out of traditional ticket offices onto the platform to sell tickets and help customers, but set out his strong concerns and objections at what is proposed at Melton Mowbray & Hinckley on grounds of customer service, support for elderly, disabled, or blind customers, and on station security, and he has called on EMR to pause and think again.
Edward said: "My constituents use a range of local stations, and while it is right that we look at ways to modernise how tickets are sold & to get staff out from behind the glass of the ticket office onto the platforms, it is clearly not right that stations in busy towns like Melton Mowbray or Hinckley, under these proposals by EMR would have no permanent staff available at all to assist customers on a daily basis, only a weekly visit by mobile EMR staff instead.
Melton Mowbray is a vibrant, growing town, and it is important that stations like Melton Mowbray and Hinckley have that staff presence to assist customers, to help elderly, disabled, or blind and partially sighted customers, as well as to help keep the station safe. I have set out my strong objections to the proposal to remove the permanent staff presence, and have called upon EMR to think again about their staffing proposals at these stations."
