Save Macclesfield railway ticket office

Local MP, David Rutley, has given his support to calls to save Macclesfield train station’s ticket office.

He recently met with staff and spoke to passengers at the station to discuss their concerns about how Avanti West Coast’s consultation on closing the ticket office will impact both customers and staff. This follows the recent announcements from local operators that they will be consulting on closing train station ticket offices across the UK.

From these discussions and from wider concerns raised by local rail users, it is clear that there is strong local opposition to the plans and that the proposals have not been fully thought through for Macclesfield’s busy, actively used train station. 

There are a number of outstanding key questions, including how the proposed plans would improve the support available to customers, when fully ticket trained staff would be on duty for fewer hours. Passengers with disabilities, including those with visual impairments, and older more vulnerable people would also be particularly disadvantaged by the removal of a ticket office. 

In addition, it is unclear how the proposals will affect the very dedicated, well respected, and long-serving team at Macclesfield station. They deserve answers to the important questions they are raising about ongoing support for passengers and their own jobs. 

David is also concerned that while Avanti is proposing to close Macclesfield ticket office, Northern have confirmed that they will be retaining a number of ticket offices in key stations, including in Glossop. Many rail users understand that change will be required in the future as passengers become more digitally minded. However, Avanti needs to ensure that current plans have been properly thought through before final decisions are made on the future of ticket offices in actively used stations.

David has written to the Minister for Transport and to Avanti West Coast’s Managing Director to highlight concerns about the impact of closing Macclesfield’s ticket office would have on customers. It is important that residents share their views in the public consultation. Comments can be emailed to TicketOffice.Avanti@transportfocus.org.uk,  or sent via write Freepost to RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ, Transport Focus, PO Box 5594, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 9PZ.

David said, “As a frequent user of Macclesfield station, I regularly see first-hand how important the ticket office and its well-respected team are to many train users and the wider community. We need to save Macclesfield’s ticket office, as the current proposals have not been fully thought through and the impacts are not clear for both passengers and staff. I would urge all rail users to set out their views in the consultation, so that they are more fully taken into account as part of this process over the weeks ahead.”