Huntly train station ticket office opening hours reduction under fire
Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett has said a cut to the hours at Huntly train station ticket office "will seriously impact passenger safety, accessibility, and security."
ScotRail, which was taken into public ownership in 2022, plans to reduce ticket office opening hours at 101 of its 143 staffed stations.
Huntly station will lose almost 20 hours a week, while the majority of ticket offices would close for a third of their current timetable — around 2800 hours a week around Scotland.
They follow years of timetable reductions for trains from the north-east to the central belt.
Answering a parliamentary question by Mr Burnett, transport secretary Fiona Hyslop denied the changes will result in job losses as union RMT demonstrated outside Holyrood.
She added the Scottish Government’s acceptance to these proposals "is predicated on some conditions, including that the arrangements for disabled passengers will not be affected."
The company's internal consultation on the proposals ends in February.
Mr Burnett said: "The transport secretary says the reductions will stop if they reduce accessibility.
"But general cuts to the ScotRail timetable have already done so — for example the 15 per cent reduction to trains calling at Inverurie a year ago.
"The data they are using is merely based on ticket sales through apps.
"Closing the shutters earlier and more often will only mean 100 per cent of passengers are forced to book online.
"That will then give ScotRail and the Scottish Government the nod to shut them altogether.
"ScotRail was taken into public ownership with the promise that services would get better, not worse.”
Mr Burnett’s question in the Scottish Parliament was: “To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of any impact of ticket office closures on rail passenger numbers, and what measures it has put in place to mitigate any accessibility problems caused by closures.”
Ms Hyslop responded: “There will be no ticket office closures or job losses further to the adjustments to the ticket office opening hours proposed by ScotRail and Scottish Rail Holdings.
“The purpose of these adjustments is to enable ScotRail to provide assistance to passengers, where it is most required, thus enhancing passenger experience.
“The Scottish Government’s acceptance to these proposals is predicated on some conditions, including that the arrangements for disabled passengers will not be affected.”
