Proposal to shut rail ticket offices is nothing short of vandalism - Tracy Brabin

Even LNER’s Wakefield Westgate, with a footfall of around two million per year, would lose its office – this is simply unjustifiable.

Without warning, the Rail Delivery Group announced that the public would have just 21 days to give their views. This is a grossly inadequate amount of time to respond to a consultation in which so much is at stake.

And what of older people and disabled people - who are more likely to be digitally excluded – wanting to respond to a consultation that they will be disproportionately affected by?

An afterthought, yet again.

This may appear to be driven by the train companies, but it’s clear that it is the Government that is trying to force these shameful cutbacks through.

They are mistaken if they think of ticket office staff as people who simply push buttons on a machine.

They offer advice, guidance – and sometimes, simply a friendly face to people who are already socially excluded.

And any reduction in staffing will only make train stations less safe for vulnerable people, including women and girls.

The impact on disabled people will be particularly pernicious. They’ve told me they rely on assistance to be able to use the station safely, and on time.

Plus, there are some tickets which make it cheaper for disabled people to travel that you cannot buy at most ticket machines, as various special discounts are not available on them.

Our rail system is already too fragmented, with complex ticketing options across a patchwork of operators. Rail passengers have endured months of disruption on the network.

This frankly insulting proposal, backed up by a chaotic consultation, is the last thing we need. During a climate emergency, we do not want to put people off travelling by public transport by making it harder to buy tickets.

Many ticket machines are simply not accessible as they are cashless. It flies in the face of my ambition for a more accessible, integrated transport system.

Yes, technology has changed the way we buy tickets and we are not opposed to looking at how best to meet the needs of the travelling public in the 21st century.

But this is not a redesigning of services – it is a package of savage cuts to services which many of the people I represent rely on.

We are poised to take legal action if the operators and the government do not listen to our concerns.

As Mayors, we have stepped up before to challenge ministers for fairer investment in Northern infrastructure, to plug gaps in funding for bus services post-Covid, and to strip failing railway operators of contracts.

Let’s be absolutely clear: this proposal is nothing short of vandalism - and we will not stand by while the Government and rail operators try to railroad this through.

Tracy Brabin is the Mayor of West Yorkshire.