Winchester Green party members campaign to save railway ticket office

With consultations to review how train tickets are sold closing at midnight on Friday, September 1, Green party members took to Winchester High Street to drum up support to keep manned ticket offices.

South Western Railway (SWR) confirmed plans to close all ticket offices in Hampshire and introduce 'more face-to-face support' for railway passengers. 

READ MORE: Consultation to review how train tickets are sold to close at midnight

Instead of a ticket office, there will be a team of staff in each station to help customers from journey planning to ticket purchasing.

On Tuesday, August 29 and Wednesday, August 30, the Greens had a stall by the Buttercross, providing free postcards for people to submit their concerns to the consultation.

The Green's stall at the Buttercross (Image: Richard Needham)

Green party member, Kate Needham, said: “We are proud to support the RMT union campaign to stop the closure of manned railway station ticket offices across the UK including at Winchester station. Our postcards enabled hundreds of local people to have their say quickly and easily.

SEE ALSO: Campaign to save Romsey Railway Station ticket office

“Ticket machines and technology may be convenient for some but people told us they prefer to speak to a helpful, real person and many said they would not be able to manage at all without the ticket office.

“We were inundated with a steady stream of people who want to keep our ticket offices open and many are feeling very upset and angry.”

Kate’s husband and fellow Green, Richard Needham, said: “People shared horror stories about situations which would have been much worse without help from the person in the ticket office.”