Local MP Neil O’Brien has hailed news that plans to close railway station ticket offices have been dropped.
Neil said:
“I have been campaigning against plans to shut our station ticket offices, and it is good news for local people that those plans have now been dropped.
When I met the Rail Minister Huw Merriman a while back I told him that people didn’t want this, and I raised concerns about those who have disabilities or don’t like using the machines.
When I spoke to staff at market Harborough station it was clear that they are already working in a flexible way.
Use of Market Harborough station soared by a third between 2010 and 2020, and we have already seen major investments like the large new car park at Market Harborough. We are about to get new trains and also benefit from the ongoing electrification work between Kettering up to Wigston. So all that growth will tend to support use of the ticket office.
I’m glad that the department for transport and the rail industry have now listened and dropped these plans, so we can keep our ticket office. This is good news for rail travellers.”
