Andy Burnham says railway ticket office closure consultation extension not enough

Andy Burnham says an extension to a period of public consultation launched over plans to close nearly all the UK's railway station ticket offices is not enough.

And the mayor of Greater Manchester, who together with other mayors has initiated legal action against a number of train operating companies, repeated a view the consultation wasn't following a process set out in law, saying the extension wouldn't stop their collective fight.

The controversial three-week public consultation, which ended today, has been extended until September 1. The Rail Delivery Group said train operators were extending the time available to respond to the plans by an extra five and a half weeks.

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The move, said the group, illustrated operators were 'listening to feedback', but Burnham again hit out at the plans.

He said: "This is finally some recognition that the three-week consultation period is a completely flawed process. You cannot take away thousands of ticket offices from our communities having only carried out a three-week consultation for 21 days.

"But this extension is not enough. The law is clear: a 12-week consultation is required on any proposal to close part of a station. The rail industry are simply extending a flawed process and for that reason, what has been announced will not stop our legal action.

"They have not followed the process set out in law in the Railway Act 2005 to deliver these changes which would have a huge impact on passengers, disproportionately impacting the disabled and most vulnerable. Mayors across England, including myself, will continue to pursue legal action if they do not completely stop this flawed