Potential plans to shut the ticket office at Didcot Parkway would impact travellers and harm the atmosphere of the train station, warn councillors and train-enthusiasts.

Great Western Railway has launched a consultation on modernising ticket sales which would see its staff move from behind ticket office windows to help customers elsewhere on the station.

It comes as ticket office transactions dropped below 15 per cent across its stations.

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Town and South Oxfordshire district councillor Mocky Khan, who regularly uses the station to travel to London, said many travellers relied on the ticket office for advice.

“The impact will be huge,” he said. “One of the things that Didcot has going for it, and a reason why people move here, is because of the transport links.

“Obviously you have got ticket machines, but they are not always as helpful as the staff.

“For a lot of people, especially elderly people, they need a lot of support. Not everybody can do things on their mobile phones.

“This seems like another case where stations will be run by machines rather than humans. Didcot is known for travel and trains and not to have a human interaction is wrong.”

Councillor Ian Snowdon, who represents Didcot West on South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “I use the train station quite a bit and I’m relatively tech-savvy but, to be honest, I still use the ticket office.

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“I understand they are trying to modernise but there should always be at least one ticket office staff there for the elderly.”

Clive Hetherington, chief executive of Didcot Railway Centre, said he would have struggled to book a recent trip to Scotland without the help of ticket office staff.

He said: “The machines are broken down so often and the staff certainly offer a really valuable service. You only have to look at the queues in the morning.

“It will make life difficult for travellers.

“It’s a very friendly station atmosphere at the moment and that would be lost.”

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A spokesperson for GWR said: “Digital tickets have made it easier and faster for customers to buy and manage tickets online, which means fewer people than ever are using ticket offices.

"With 85 per cent of ticket sales taking place outside a ticket office on the GWR network, we think it makes sense to put our people where they can be most help to customers.

“This consultation is designed to allow the public to test and examine our proposals, and make sure our plans are compliant with the safeguards put in place at privatisation so that the needs of customers will still be met.”

For more information on how to take part in the consultation, visit: www.gwr.com/haveyoursay