UK Government Scraps Plans to Close Rail Ticket Offices
In a recent surprising announcement, the UK government has reversed its plans to close several rail ticket offices across the country, including in Lincolnshire. This comes after substantial public criticism and review by passenger watchdogs, resulting in over 900 proposed closures now being withdrawn.
The U-Turn Announcement
Earlier, the government had proposed to shut down 974 rail ticket offices, causing alarm amongst passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch. The Mirror reported these organizations as opposing all proposed closures following a thorough review.
"The consultation on ticket offices has now ended, with the Government making clear to the rail industry throughout the process that any resulting proposals must meet a high threshold of serving passengers. We have engaged with accessibility groups throughout this process and listened carefully to passengers as well as my colleagues in Parliament."
This statement was made by Transport Secretary Mark Harper, further adding that the resulting proposals did not meet the high thresholds set by ministers, resulting in the government asking train operators to withdraw their plans.
Reaction from Lincolnshire County Council
Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for transport at Lincolnshire County Council, welcomed this development.
"It’s very good news to see that common sense has prevailed and ticket offices will remain open."
He added that due to public feedback, the government was ensured that stopping these closures was what train users in Lincolnshire wanted.
Concerns About Passenger Safety
Interestingly, even train companies admitted to the potential risk to passengers by closing ticket offices, with concerns related to fraud and decreased safety at railway stations.
Political Fallout
This abrupt shift has caused a controversy with Louise Haigh, Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary, criticizing the government's approach.
"The government failed to come clean on the impact of these proposals for accessibility and job security and now have been forced into a humiliating climb down, disowning the very proposals ministers championed from the start."
Last month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had supported the closure of ticket offices, claiming it to be a rational move for the British public and taxpayers as only one in 10 tickets are currently sold in ticket offices.