The abrupt abandonment of plans to close station ticket offices is a victory for passenger groups, unions and campaigners, and another failure of what passes for government rail policy since the pandemic. What began as a cost-cutting measure Transport Secretary Mark Harper hoped could be forced through in just three weeks has ended in humiliation for the minister, and dealt another blow to an industry rapidly losing public and passenger confidence.
'We are supporting what the industry is doing on the ticket office move, where we want to get people out of ticket offices - where most people don't buy tickets - but into stations to be better able to support customers, particularly those customers who don't use the railway as often, so they can have a better customer experience' he told a fringe meeting.