Plans to close rail ticket offices in England go too far, too fast, say MPs

Train operators announced in July that they were aiming to close almost all of the 1,007 remaining offices, bar those at the busiest stations. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Rail ticket office closure plans for England go too far, too fast and are too radical to be rolled out without being piloted first, MPs have told the rail minister.

The transport select committee told Huw Merriman there was an unacceptable lack of evidence about the cumulative effect of the planned closures, which risked excluding some passengers, including disabled travellers, from the railway.