A GROWING number of passengers at Oxford railway station are getting to grips with ticket vending machines, reducing the length of queues at the ticket office.

In 2006, when new touch-screen ticket vending machines (TVM) were introduced at Oxford station, takings represented an eighth of annual ticket sales, but last year they represented a third.

Geoff Capes, station manager at Oxford station, which is run by First Great Western, said the TVMs were taking the pressure off staff in the ticket office.

He added that Oxford was not experiencing the same problem as Guildford, Winchester or Basingstoke where, according to a Passenger Focus survey, queues at ticket offices often exceeded the industry guideline of five minutes during peak hours because passengers found the TVMs difficult to use.

Mr Capes said: “We do have queues at certain peak times such as Friday evenings when a lot of students are travelling.

“But the ticket vending machines are becoming increasingly popular and take the pressure off the ticket office.

“The TVMs give office staff more time to deal with a complex inquiry instead of just selling a day-return to Reading.

“The ticket machines are very popular with passengers travelling on the day or the following day, and with those people who order tickets online.

“They can then type in a code and insert their credit card to pick up their ticket.

“The touch-screen system is easy to use and the TVMs have helped the smooth running of the station in a period when we are continuing to see a growth in passenger numbers.

“Those customers who want to buy season tickets, or tickets in advance, go to the ticket office.

“Some people like to talk to staff face-to-face and get advice and we are happy to provide that service.

“The TVMs and the ticket office complement each other very well, but the use of the TVMs in the past five years has more than doubled, and now generate millions of pounds every year.”

Each touch-screen TVM costs £30,000 and 18 months ago First Great Western added a sixth machine and repositioned them on the concourse to make them more user-friendly.

Mr Capes said 5.5 million passengers now use Oxford station every year, up 10 per cent on 2006.

Ten staff each day run five ticket office windows in the morning and four in the afternoon and staffing levels have not changed since 2006.

Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: “Ticket machines can present bewildering jargon, a barrage of information and choices as well as incomplete information about ticket restrictions.

“As a result, passengers would rather queue to speak to a member of staff, buy more expensive tickets than they need to, or just give up and join the ticket office queue.”

But a spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: “Passenger Focus’s own figures from a survey of more than 30,000 rail users show that over seven out of 10 people are satisfied with ticket-buying facilities at stations.”

Pete Reynolds, 38, a college manager from Eynsham, said: “The machines are much better than queuing.

“It is handy to have them here when you only have a few minutes to catch a train.”