Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount that needs to be paid to railway ticketing staff for redundancy payments as a result of railway ticket office closures; and what estimate they have made of annual payments that will be required to paid as compensation benefits.

Whilst it is our expectation that no currently staffed station should be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, it is for train operators to decide on their staffing arrangements at each of the stations from which they operate services, so they can best meet the needs of passengers. As part of this train operators will discuss employment matters with trade unions as part of their own collective bargaining processes.