Victory for passengers as plans for widespread closure of railway station ticket offices ditched - The Yorkshire Post says

The reality is that such proposals should never have been entertained in the first place. And the Government only really abandoned the plans after watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch signalled opposition to every single planned closure due to issues such as the impact on accessibility.

The strength of feeling against these ill-thought proposals was clear from the outset. The consultation attracted 750,000 responses. Passengers, unions and charities had objected to the proposals.

The justification for the proposed closure of railway ticket offices has been mainly that fewer people use them to purchase tickets.

It is clear that more and more people are buying tickets online and using ticket machines. But that does not take into account the multiple functions ticket offices dispense or the diversity of passengers who rely on rail travel.

Age charities rightly pointed out that there are many elderly people who don’t have smartphones and struggle with technology. How were these plans meant to make travel easier for them?

Disability groups talked of the importance of station staff in helping people navigate platforms.

Generally, given disruption has become the norm on the railways in the North, there is value in stations having staff at a ticket office, ready to give advice and updates on services.

While the Government had no choice but to U-turn, it is nonetheless welcome as pressing ahead would have made rail travel all that more difficult for already frustrated passengers. Charities and passengers who opposed the closures also deserve immense respect for challenging these plans.