The Mancunian Way: Ticket office closures ‘illegal’?

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It looks like the days of rocking up to a train station and buying a ticket from someone behind the counter are long gone. That’s because train companies have announced plans to close hundreds of ticket offices in England over the next three years.

There was certainly a romance to rail travel in the past that has since been superseded by anger from passengers who have faced repeat delays, cancellations and sad-looking train sandwiches. This latest decision also has major implications for disabled and older people.

We’ll be discussing that in today’s newsletter, as well as Gary Neville's ‘huge mistake’ over his St Michael's development and Manchester’s new ‘beach’. Let’s begin.

Andy Burnham hasn’t minced his words over the decision to close hundreds of railway ticket offices across the country - including 50 in Greater Manchester. In fact, he says it could be ‘illegal’.

The Greater Manchester mayor says operators - who are carrying out a 21-day public consultation - and one in particular, have not assessed the impact the proposal would have on older and disabled people.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People says research shows just 3 per cent of people with sight loss said they could use a ticket vending machine without problems and 58 per cent said it was impossible.

Mr Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester he will write to the Transport Secretary calling for the consultation to be halted. "The provisional advice I've got is that the train operators, one of them in particular,