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The abrupt abandonment of plans to close station ticket offices is a victory for passenger groups, unions and campaigners, and another failure of what passes for government rail policy since the pandemic.
What began as a cost-cutting measure Transport Secretary Mark Harper hoped could be forced through in just three weeks has ended in humiliation for the minister, and dealt another blow to an industry rapidly losing public and passenger confidence.
Opposition to the proposals, which would have closed almost 1,000 ticket offices, has been consistent and energetic.
Campaigners argued it would force the disabled and digitally disenfranchised, who cannot or will not book online or use ticket machines, off the railways.
The counter-argument, that today just 12% of tickets are bought at ticket offices and staff would be moved from behind counters on to platforms to help customers directly, largely fell on deaf ears.
For unions, into a second year of industrial dispute with the rail companies and ministers, it was an easy second front to open in an ongoing battle, one that came with the bonus of a level of public support that is not always a given.
For Labour, and MPs of all parties who sensed local opposition to the closure of a community resource, there was no downside to opposing the changes.
The issue has begun to feature on election leaflets, including in former transport secretary Grant Shapps’s constituency.
The initial 21-day consultation was extended to two months as rail companies were overwhelmed with responses, but earlier this month at…
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