Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason railway passengers cannot purchase the same tickets from ticketing machines as they can at in-person ticket offices; and whether he has made an assessment of the impact of potential ticket office closures on the availability of railway tickets.

An estimated 99% of all transactions made at ticket offices last year could be made at Ticket Vending Machines or online.

Industry is looking to expand digital ticketing options and make them even easier for passengers to use through upgrades to ticket vending machines and digitisation of more tickets and processes.

When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures), TOCs are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers including tickets. As part of the proposals put forward by industry, some of the country’s busiest ticket offices will initially remain open to help passengers gradually get used to the changes they will see at stations around the country.