How we can modernise the retail experience…

Transport Focus Director Natasha Grace considers how any fares and ticketing reform should take into account the role of station staff

It can often feel as if progress on rail fares and ticketing is stuck in a siding. But recently, some changes have accelerated significantly.

Barcode ticketing on a smartphone is now the dominant ticket format across much of the network, helping to make purchasing a ticket quicker, easier and more convenient for many people.

Meanwhile more pay-as-you-go options are coming, with 53 more stations around London due soon, Merseyrail expected in the autumn, and pilots planned in the West Midlands and Manchester for next year. But while these changes are hugely welcome, progress can seem extraordinarily slow.

Everyone seems to agree that fares and ticketing is too complicated and confusing.

There is a good argument for pushing on quickly with pay-as-you-go and single-leg pricing, as these have been shown to simplify the process. Other changes, such as LNER’s trial of airline-style fares, show just what a sensitive topic fares reform can be.

At such times, there is a need for pilots to test proposals. These may add delay, but it is important to make sure there aren’t any unintended consequences.

Split ticketing has long been the elephant in the room - if you know how you can save money by combining tickets, rather than having a through-ticket. Some websites and retail staff offer this, others don’t. Until this is addressed, it will continue to erode trust.

Station retailing is another highly emotive subject. Together with London TravelWatch, we received 750,000 responses from individuals and organisations to the consultations on ticket office closures last year, many with powerful and passionate concerns about the potential changes.

This flagged two key issues which any reform of fares and ticketing would need to address.

One concerns the use of cash and the ability of people without bank accounts to get access to the full range of products, such as Railcards or Advance Fares. Part of the answer could be in wider availability of smartcards, such as Oyster, allowing people to top-up with cash or perhaps allowing other High Street retailers to sell rail products.

The second was the role of staff in retailing. The key concern of most passengers in the ticket office consultation wasn’t actually ticketing, but whether staff would still be present and easily available (in the short- and the long-term) to provide advice and assistance to those who need it. All Transport Focus’s research highlights how much passengers value staff for the information, assistance and reassurance they can provide.

Transport Focus is supportive of the principle of redeploying staff at some stations from ticket offices into more multi-functional roles. Done right, this could improve the overall offer to the passenger and still allow passengers to buy tickets face-to-face as before.

There are some examples of this in operation. One example - the open plan ticket office at Birmingham International - is close to my heart.

Back in 2016, when I was general manager at Virgin Trains, we created a retail experience much more familiar to the High Street. The ticket office could still offer every ticket and act as a focal point for passengers, but it also freed up staff to get closer to passengers and offer better customer service.

The railway will need to respond to these and the other passenger concerns that the consultation highlighted. The industry must not stand still, but in any future strategy it will need to demonstrate how it will ensure any changes to retail options do not become a barrier to accessing the network.