Sussex MP says railway ticket office closure U-turn is 'good win for people power and common sense'

Rail companies had intended to shut almost all of England's 1,007 railway station ticket offices. It was a proposal that sparked fury among passengers – particularly the elderly and disabled – as well as unions and charities.

On Tuesday (October 31), transport secretary Mark Harper said the UK Government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals.

Among those to campaign against the plans was Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham.

Following the U-turn news, Mr Loughton wrote: “Great news that the government has listened to the consultation and views of 750k people who want to keep train ticket offices open as we have been campaigning for in East Worthing & Shoreham. Train operators told to scrap proposal. Good win for people power and common sense.”

Local groups of blind and partially sighted (BPS) people are also welcoming the decision. It comes after they launched a joint campaign with national sight loss charity Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT).

They are also calling for a government strategy to immediately tackle wider accessibility issues raised as part of the consultation.

Sight Loss Councils, funded by TPT, are local groups led by blind and partially sighted volunteers. Together they work with organisations to ensure what they do is accessible and inclusive.

A councils spokesperson said: “Travel is already challenging enough. Before the consultation even began, blind and partially sighted people had told us that accessible public transport was most important to them. It is vital for people to be able to travel so they can work, socialise and live their lives. Without it, many people will become isolated.

“Ticket offices provide a readily accessible and easy point of assistance for blind and partially sighted people - and much more than just tickets. This is because of wider accessibility issues in the rail network an at stations. Roaming staff were also never an acceptable alternative because many blind and partially sighted people can’t see them.

“What we need is a national government strategy to address all of the issues raised in this consultation. We are also calling on transport providers to work alongside blind and partially sighted people to make transport accessible using their power of lived experience.”

Following a campaign by Thomas Pocklington Trust and partners, travel watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch reported that more than 750,000 consultation responses were received and, of these, 99 per cent were objections.

Key issues raised include concerns around accessibility, ticket machine capability, and how passenger assistance and information would be delivered in future.