A three-week public consultation on plans to close nearly all railway station ticket offices in England is expected to be extended, the chairman of Network Rail has said.
Just under a thousand train station ticket offices are set to be shut across England, in a move described by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) as a way to modernise customer service.
According to the RDG, the share of train tickets purchased from station offices has dramatically decreased from 85% in 1995 to just 12% today.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast at Birmingham’s New Street station after reports the consultation may be extended until September, Lord Peter Hendy said: “I think you are going to find in an hour or two that the consultation is going to be extended.
“If it is, that’s a really good thing for our customers because the railway ought to listen to its passengers and the people who use it.
“I hope that that’s the case. I think that’s what you might find is announced, and if it is that’s another greater, longer opportunity for people to say what they think.”
Full list of proposed train station ticket office closures
A full list of the proposed train stations where ticket offices will be shut was reported by The Mirror.
You can see the stations below in our interactive map:
Unions and others have warned the closures will lead to more strikes, increased crime rates and more difficult journeys for the elderly and vulnerable.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has said that it will vigorously oppose the proposals.
Posters are being displayed at nearly all stations across England and on train operators’ websites that invite passengers to take part in consultations on the changes.
After three weeks of consultations, there will be a two-week period of assessment while organisations consider the feedback they’ve received.
The watchdog Transport Focus will then gauge how the move will affect passengers, the staffing levels at stations, and disabled people’s access to stations.
The Government will then have the final say on which ticket offices will close their doors.
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