'Closing railway ticket offices will hit vulnerable and elderly'

17 July 2023 , 23:04

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Saving offices used by passengers – particularly the vulnerable and elderly, who rely on them – is at the heart of a wider battle to run the railway as a public service (Image: Hesther Ng/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)

The closures of railway station ticket offices, which are being rushed through at a speed lacking in many of our train services, deserve to hit the buffers.

The private train companies and Tory Government will have to go back to the drawing board if the Labour mayors, marshalled by Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham, win their legal attempt to derail a consultation process dismissed as “shambolic”.

Saving offices used by passengers – particularly the vulnerable and elderly, who rely on them to pay the lowest fares available – is at the heart of a wider battle to run the railway as a public service, rather than a profit network for commercial interests.

The consultation feels a sham, a con, when it appears the decision to shut the offices has already been taken, with a green light from Tory transport minister Huw Merriman.

He justified the move in Parliament, despite objections from a number of Conservative as well as Labour MPs.

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