The consultation on closing about 1,000 ticket offices has been extended over the summer after an outcry from passengers.
The deadline has been moved from midnight on Wednesday, July 26, until September 1 - an additional five weeks.
The change was revealed by the passenger group London TravelWatch, which was among stakeholders to receive an email from the Rail Delivery Group shortly after 11am confirming the consultation extension.
Passenger groups said the Department for Transport had been “spooked” by the threat of legal action from disability campaigners and five “metro” mayors, including Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and Steve Rotheram in Liverpool.
When the plans were first announced by the Rail Delivery Group, only 21 days were allowed for consultation.
More than 150 ticket offices in London are under threat, according to Evening Standard research, including 65 on Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern routes, 40 on Southeastern and 35 on South Western Railway.
Network Rail chairman Lord Hendy said the extension would “be a really good thing for our customers, because the railway ought to listen to its passengers and the people who use it”.
Network Rail chairman @LordPeterHendy with breaking news on the ticket office consultation being extended https://t.co/CoL4DLiGeO
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) July 26, 2023
Lord Hendy told BBC Breakfast: “I think the extension of the consultation is a sign the Government and the operators want to hear more from passengers.”
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents mainline train companies, said the extension would allow more responses to “shape final plans so that all passengers are supported as railway retailing is updated for the smartphone era”.
Government sources said it was the “right decision” and said the train companies would be held to “high standards” to ensure the consultation was meaningful. The DfT was said to be comitted to ensuring that the needs of disabled passengers were taken into account.
Michael Roberts, chief executive of London TravelWatch, said it and Transport Focus had already received more than 170,000 comments.
“This feedback is currently being logged and reviewed alongside individual train operator proposals for their stations,” he said.
“It is important that a diverse range of views from all parts of the community are heard in this consultation. Unfortunately some train companies did not provide people with complete and accessible formats from the start of the consultation period. This has meant that some people may have been prevented from being able to respond to the proposals.
“New comments received will be read, considered and used in discussions with train companies in the coming weeks.”
Many passengers book train tickets online, via train firm apps or booking services such as Thetrainline.com. But a significant number of travellers require help to purchase the correct ticket.
Matt Stringer, chief executive of Royal National Institute of Blind People, said: “Since plans to close train ticket offices were announced we have heard in great detail from blind and partially sighted people about the hugely damaging impact that this will have on their ability to travel independently, to buy tickets, and arrange assistance.
“We will continue to urge Mark Harper and Huw Merriman to halt these proposals and keep ticket offices open as the risk is to leave blind and partially sighted people behind a new barrier.”
Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, said on Wednesday: “Train companies have listened to feedback, and are extending the time available to respond to the consultation on changes to how tickets are sold at stations to 1st of September.
“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.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “While this is a matter for the industry, it is right that train operators have listened to feedback and extended their consultations, following continued engagement with stakeholders, including accessibility groups.
“Following the consultations, independent passenger bodies will continue to play a vital role in assessing and shaping proposals.”
Earlier this month, rail minister Mr Merriman told the Commons that the aim was to get station staff out from behind ticket office windows onto concourses. He said only one in 10 tickets was bought at a booking office, and vowed that “no currently staffed station will become unstaffed as a result of these changes”.
But Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle told Mr Merriman that he was not being told the truth by the rail firms, pointing to his own constituency station, Chorley, which he said faced having its opening hours cut by half.
The RMT union said that 2,300 station staff had received redundancy notices last week – further dashing hopes of resolving the national rail strike. However the DfT says it “does not recognise” the claims of mass redundancies.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the proposed ticket office closures had “galvanised a huge groundswell of public support”.
Mr Lynch said: “The [Government] said in the House of Commons that no jobs would be made redundant. They said they’re taking people out from behind the glass to assist people. That’s not true. They’re taking them out from behind the glass and giving P45s and putting them on the dole.”
