Train companies announce a five and a half week extension for ticket office plans consultation after listening to feedback

Passengers will now have until September 1 to submit their feedback on the various proposals, which if they went ahead would see the travel centres at Alnmouth, Berwick and Morpeth close.

This can be done online at any local train company website, or visit the website of independent passenger watchdog Transport Focus which is facilitating the consultation and scrutinising operator plans.

Operator information about the consultation will be made available ‘in accessible formats’.

Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “Operators are keen to give more people a chance to give their views on the proposals, so they can bring the railway up to date with dramatic shifts in customer buying habits, while supporting all its customers as the railway evolves and adapts.

“While local plans vary, the aim of the proposals is to bring staff out from behind ticket office windows to offer more help for customers buying tickets and navigating stations.

"At the same time, ticket vending machines are being upgraded to offer a wider range of fares and we have committed that no customer will have to go out of their way to buy a ticket.”

Critics of the proposals, including the RMT union, say the changes will make life more difficult for elderly rail passengers and those with disabilities.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch spoke on the campaign to keep railway station ticket offices open at a public rally in Berwick last Friday.