So, welcome back, ticket offices – not yet four months after train operators announced their wholesale closure across England. Back then, rail executives breezily assured us that virtually no one bought a ticket from a person in an office: just for 13% of journeys, in an era of trains filled with happy smartphone users.
But then it turned out, according to the passenger watchdogs who compiled and analysed 750,000 responses to the public consultation, that every single one of the 1,007 menaced offices needed to stay open after all. Transport Focus, independent but not notable for outspoken condemnation of either industry or government, said serious concerns remained despite long discussions over the detail of options proposed by train operators to serve all passengers.
