Labour mayors are launching legal action to prevent the closure of railway station ticket offices across England.
Five metro mayors, led by Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham, said the “rushed” public consultation on the changes was not following due process and that the closures would affect thousands of jobs and “erode trust” in the railway.
The rail industry, under pressure from the government to slash costs and still locked in dispute with unions, unveiled plans this month to close most of England’s remaining ticket offices, with just a three-week consultation.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has said ticket office staff could better serve the travelling public in new roles on concourses and platforms, arguing that about only one in eight tickets are now bought at offices rather than machines or online.
However, the mayors argue that a 12-week minimum period was necessary for consultation, and charities representing people with sight loss and other disabilities have also objected.
Unions have described the closures as “a fig leaf for redundancies”.
Burnham said the mayors “will fight this all the way”, adding: “These closures will affect over 2,000 jobs. It’s just not the case that this is about redeploying staff. This will be a serious reduction in the level of support available to people when they are travelling. It will further erode what remains of trust in travelling on our trains and we think it is the wrong move at the wrong time.”
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