TUC Congress passes motion over planned ticket office closures including in Northumberland

In early July, the Rail Delivery Group announced that operators “across the country are launching passenger consultations to move staff from ticket offices and into stations”. The plans would include closing the travel centres at Alnmouth, Berwick and Morpeth.

The consultation deadline was extended to September 1 and following more than 680,000 responses to the public consultation, the largest ever of its kind, the passenger watchdogs have decided to extend the period to consider the public responses to October 31.

As well as seeking an urgent meeting with the Government to demand withdrawal of the closures and other threats to rail workers jobs and conditions, which have caused the disputes with the rail unions, the RMT will lobby Parliament with the aim of securing parliamentary debates before the end of October.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch, who spoke at a public rally in Berwick in July, said: “The record response from the consultation and all the feedback we are getting shows that the public do not want ticket offices closed.

“Our union will fight these plans all the way and we will lobby Parliament before October 31 alongside other trade unions to ensure politicians exert the maximum pressure on the Government to change course.”

After the consultation ended, a Rail Delivery Group spokesman said: “We want all our passengers to feel supported during any transition and train companies will now work with independent passenger bodies at a local level to take on board the consultation feedback.”