Tory transport secretary Mark Harper has announced today that the government is ditching plans to shut railway station ticket offices. This is a victory for passengers across South Cambs who faced losing their ticket offices from stations such as Shelford, Meldreth, Whittlesford Parkway and Ashwell and Morden. Mr Harper claimed the government had asked train operators to withdraw their proposals because they failed to meet high passenger standards. However, rail bosses are furious as the original plans were produced after the government put huge pressure on them to cut costs, and the resulting plans were approved by the Department for Transport. Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh called it “shambolic” and a “humiliating climbdown”, saying the cancelled plans had been “a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money”.

The proposals rightly sparked huge concerns from railway unions and passenger, community and disability groups. Stacey Davies, South Cambs Labour’s transport spokesperson said:

“Passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London Travelwatch objected to the proposals, coordinating people’s concerns for a public consultation that we have encouraged the people of South Cambs to contribute to keep ticket offices open at our stations. The consultation received over 750,000 responses from individuals and organisations.

Significant concerns were raised, most obviously about accessibility by disabled persons like myself to ticket machines, ticket machine capability, the ability of the elderly to prebook tickets to get the best deals (or obtain tickets at all) and how information would be delivered. We are sure that the people of South Cambs will be breathing a big sigh of relief today.”

“As Mick Lynch, General Secretary of the RMT has said today, this is a resounding victory for passengers, communities groups and rail workers. We agree with Mr Lynch that we now need an urgent summit between the government, the train operating companies, the various train unions, disabled and community groups, and passenger organisations to find a different route for the rail network that guarantees the future of our rail network. As Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary again confirmed today, under a Labour government trains would be brought back under public control to be run for the public benefit, not private profit.”