Andy Burnham says mass closure of train station ticket offices could be ILLEGAL

Andy Burnham has said that the mass closure of ticket offices at train stations across the country could be ILLEGAL. It comes after train companies announced plans to close hundreds of ticket offices in England over the next three years.

In Greater Manchester, ticket offices are set to close at around 50 stations - including Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport and Wigan North Western.

A 21-day public consultation has been launched to gather passengers' views. But Mr Burnham says that the process of the consultation might not be legal.

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The Greater Manchester mayor said one train operator in particular has not assessed the impact the proposal would have on older and disabled people. He did not name the operator. Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester this morning (July 6), Mr Burnham said he would write to the transport secretary calling for the consultation to be halted.

He said: "This is really wrong on so many levels – but we're going to take a stand. I will be writing to the transport secretary today and I think it is likely, in my view, that there's a strong case that this process is not legal."

The Labour mayor criticised the planned closures, saying it would 'further destroy the already threadbare trust in train services across the north of England'. He argued that ticket office staff provide advice for passengers, reassurance for older people and help for disabled people at train stations.

He told listeners on his weekly radio phone-in that his team is looking into whether the consultation on the proposal is legal. He is expecting that to be established today (July 5), however, he shared what he has been told so far.

He said: