Transport minister urged to stop ‘haphazard’ Fife railway ticket office cuts

The transport minister is being urged to halt cuts to ticket office opening hours at four Fife railway stations.

Hours will be slashed at Leuchars, Cupar, Aberdour and Cowdenbeath stations next year.

Scotrail first mooted the plan two years ago, citing changing travel and ticket-buying behaviour.

More than 40% of all train tickets are now bought online.

Fife councillors have now agreed to write to transport minister Fiona Hyslop asking her to intervene.

St Andrews councillor Jane Ann Liston said the proposals make no sense.

And she pointed out a similar plan was overwhelmingly rejected in England last year.

“Uncertainty is probably the biggest disincentive to using public transport, especially if you have a car,” she said.

What do the cuts mean for Fife railway station ticket offices?

The opening hours cuts affect each station differently, with Leuchars the hardest hit.

It is losing almost 30 hours per week, despite being Fife’s third busiest railway station.

Cupar and Cowdenbeath are each losing 19 hours a week.

And Aberdour station ticket office will see its hours cut by almost five hours.

Ms Liston added: “The changes seem a bit haphazard because there is also a proposal to open Cupar ticket office for an extra six hours until 9pm on a Saturday night.

“But they will close Leuchars, which has twice as many passengers, three hours earlier at 6pm.”

The move means 20 trains a week, rather than seven, will arrive at Leuchars when the ticket office is closed.

Some cheap ticket offers not available online

The Liberal Democrat councillor says online purchasing is not for everyone.

And she pointed out office staff are obliged to sell the cheapest options, including split tickets which are not available online.

Fife concession tickets and Kids for a Quid offers can also only be bought at railway stations.

“It seems very strange that Scotrail, we must assume with the approval of the Scottish Government, is proposing to forge ahead with these reduced hours at 84 stations,” Ms Liston said.

“Why should passengers in Scotland have to put up with a worse service than passengers in England?”

Scottish Government assurances over changes

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said lessons have been learned from the “poorly thought out draconian proposals of the UK Government”.

It would have seen the closure of all ticket offices in England.

In contrast, no ticket offices are closing in Scotland and no jobs will be lost.

“These adjustments will not affect the timetable or stations at which trains stop,” the spokesperson said.

“ScotRail stations will continue to offer access to facilities – for example, toilets used by the public in most cases will remain open even when ticket office desks are shut.”