Fears over Great Yarmouth train station ticket office closure

The station - which serves Norwich, Acle, Lignwood, Brundall, Brundall Gardens and the Berney Arms station - will see its ticket office close if plans are approved.

It is part of a regional cull planned by Greater Anglia, which wants to close 47 of its 54 ticket offices across the region.

Passengers will be asked to pay for journeys by tapping contactless cards on barriers, using self-service machines, or buying tickets from staff on station concourses or trains if possible.

At seven major stations – Liverpool Street, Cambridge, Stansted Airport, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich – customer information centres would sell a full range of products, as well as provide help with more complex transactions.

East Norfolk Transport Users Association's chair, Tony Grice, committee member Trevor Garrod and secretary Steve Hewitt. Picture - James Weeds (Image: James Weeds)

Steve Hewitt, secretary for the East Norfolk Transport Users Association (ENTUA), said the ticket office closures could exclude older rail users.

"It's just not good enough," said Mr Hewitt.

"We at ENTUA simply do not want to see any station ticket offices closed. 

"If you are not confident with technology, what are you going to do? We fear this could cause people problems, particularly older individuals.

"Without people running the office, it will be a ghost station. 

"And we don't want to see that."

In a statement Greater Anglia said "The proposals form part of plans to modernise the railway and bring it more in line with modern consumer expectations.

"They reflect significantly reduced usage of ticket offices over the past decade, as customers move to alternative, more convenient ways of buying tickets. Most tickets are now bought either online or through ticket machines."

Inside Great Yarmouth train station. Picture - Newsquest (Image: Archant Norfolk � 2015)

To comment on the plans visit www.greateranglia.co.uk/consult