Sunderland ticket office closure branded 'complete and utter waste of money'

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The new ticket office at Sunderland railway station may close before it has even opened amid proposed nationwide cuts.

A new ticket office is part of a £27 million renovation project aimed at dramatically transforming Sunderland station into a transport hub fit for the 21st century.

However, before the refurbishment has even been completed, the ticket office's future is already at risk amid proposed closures.

Northern Rail, which runs Sunderland station, plan to close 131 ticket offices across Northern England.

Sunderland joins stations like Durham, Hexham and Morpeth on the proposed list of closures with just Newcastle and Hartlepool granted a stay of execution in the North East.

Sunderland City Council leader Graeme Miller spoke out against the plans earlier this week, telling the North East Joint Transport Committee that the idea was a waste of money.

“We are the biggest city south of the Tyne," he explained. "We are the biggest city that covers the Durham coastline. 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.

However, many passengers have been left worried by the plans with many still reliant on ticket offices, particularly disabled people and those without access to the internet.

A number of protests have taken place across the region including a large rally in Berwick on Friday attended by RMT Secretary Mick Lynch.

Protests have been taking place across the region against the closure of ticket offices. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

In a letter to rail companies on Tuesday Kim McGuinness, 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.”

In a statement to the Local Democracy reporting service, Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, stated that the company had a need to modernise to meet ever changing consumer patterns.

Northern Rail have said that there is a need to modernise amid changing consumer patterns. Credit: PA

She 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."

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