RAIL passengers are wasting too much time at the ticket office new research has found.National rail watchdog, Passenger Focus found on average rail users queued longer at off-peak times, with one in six passengers waiting in line for more than three minutes.

RAIL passengers are wasting too much time at the ticket office new research has found.

National rail watchdog, Passenger Focus found on average rail users queued longer at off-peak times, with one in six passengers waiting in line for more than three minutes.

This was compared to one in 20 passengers during peak times. At weekends one in five had to wait more than three minutes for their tickets and ticket offices were found to have longer queuing times than ticket vending machines.

Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive said; "Long queues are a problem for passengers when travelling on trains that have penalty fares operating.

“Train companies are now taking revenue protection more seriously, so it is crucial that passengers are given every opportunity to buy a ticket before boarding.

“Passengers may abandon a long queue to board without a ticket, and consequently suffer a fine.”

The watchdog suggested passengers would benefit from train operators putting queue monitoring systems in place and assessing staffing levels to help minimise queuing times.