Government caves in on train ticket office closures

In a major victory for people power, the government has done a abrupt U-turn over its plans to close almost all of England’s remaining 1,007 station ticket offices. 

Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced that: “The proposals that have resulted from this process do not meet the high thresholds set by ministers, and so the government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals.”

That’s the understatement of a lifetime. The consultation received 750,000 responses, of which an astonishing 99% were objections! Mark Harper is keen to let the rail industry take the blame, even though it was the government that pushed them into it.

The Lib Dems strongly opposed the closures. Although only a minority of customers continue to use ticket offices, that includes the most vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the disabled who struggle to access online methods.