Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of railway ticket office closures on (a) older people who do not use the internet and (b) other groups who may have difficulty purchasing a ticket online or from a machine.

Passengers should have access to a ticketing system that is user-friendly, where help and advice from a trained representative is available and is accessible to all. While no final decision has been taken on ticket offices, station staff will still provide face-to-face services on the railways, which can be crucial for those who need additional support, and cannot or do not want to use contactless or mobile tickets. We want to ensure that railway staff can help all customers where needed and our reforms will enable us to move staff out of underused ticket offices and provide help where it's most needed in the station.