Rail ticket office closures will go ‘too far, too fast’
Plans to close rail ticket offices will go “too far, too fast”, MPs have warned.
The Rail Delivery Group announced over the summer that almost all of the 1,007 in-person facilities in England would be shut down in an effort to reduce costs after a post-COVID fall in passenger numbers.
The industry body also said only 12% of tickets were now purchased from offices at stations – compared with 85% in the mid-90s – and current staff would be offered new positions on station platforms to offer assistance.
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Blind commuter on ticket office closures
The proposals were backed by government ministers, including Transport Secretary Mark Harper.
But there was a backlash from unions – with the proposed closures part of the reason for ongoing strike action – as well as charities, who warned of the impact on vulnerable passengers.
Now, the cross-party transport committee has written to rail minister Huw Merriman, warning the proposals lead to “a situation that risks excluding some passengers from the railway”.
Chair of the committee Iain Stewart added: “It is clear from the evidence we heard from operators that the overall rationale for these changes is based on the behaviour of the majority of passengers. To some extent, that is reasonable.
“This is not necessarily, however, a sufficient approach for safeguarding the needs of a minority of passengers who have legitimate concerns about whether closing a ticket office would remove the support they need – whether with ticketing, information, safety or access assistance – to travel freely and reliably on the railway to the same extent as everyone else.”
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He said the committee had heard concerns from a wide range of people, including those with mobility impairments worried about having to roam a station to find a member of staff, along with passengers with hearing and sight loss needing a fixed position to get assistance, and others with learning disabilities who could struggle to use ticket machines.
Mr Stewart also lambasted “a lack of transparency” around the plans by the Rail Delivery Group, train operators and the Department for Transport “about the cumulative impact of the proposals on the rail network” – saying those with concerns about the closures “have been left to do the considerable detective work of checking whether claims made by operators stack up”.
And he criticised the consultation with passengers being based on comments about individual stations, saying it was “not adequate for capturing network-wide issues, and does not reflect how people travel”.
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Ticket office closures ‘discriminatory’
The chair concluded: “We therefore consider that the proposals as put forward by train operating companies in this consultation go too far, too fast, towards a situation that risks excluding some passengers from the railway.
“At a minimum, changes this radical should be carefully piloted in limited areas and evaluated for their effect on all passengers before being rolled out.
“This would allow for the alternative proposals, which at present are too vague, to be properly understood.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “While these are industry proposals, we have been consistently clear that the industry must ensure that the quality of service for passengers is maintained to a high standard.
“The public consultation has now closed and independent passenger representatives will review the responses with train operating companies shortly.”
Some of the biggest US technology companies have pledged billions of pounds of investment to turbocharge Britain’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, as the two countries announce a landmark technology deal.
Nvidia, Microsoft, Open AI and Google made a flurry of announcements to coincide with President Trump‘s state visit to the UK.
They include plans to build data centres and invest in AI research and engineering.
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Sir Keir Starmer described the agreement, which both leaders will sign over the coming days, as “a generational step change” in Britain’s relationship with the US.
The deal will see both countries cooperate on AI, quantum computing and nuclear energy, with investment in modular reactors revealed earlier this week.
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The prime minister said it was “shaping the futures of millions of people on both sides of the Atlantic, and delivering growth, security and opportunity up and down the country”.
The government said the deal would deliver thousands of jobs, with a new AI Growth Zone in the North East of England earmarked for 5,000 jobs.
The region will host a new data centre developed in partnership with ChatGPT developer OpenAI, the US chip giant Nvidia and the British data centre company Nscale. The UK government will supply energy for the project, which will be based in Blyth.
Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, who has previously drawn attention to Britain’s inadequate levels of digital infrastructure, said: “Today marks a historic chapter in US-United Kingdom technology collaboration.
“We are at the Big Bang of the AI era – and the United Kingdom stands in a Goldilocks position, where world-class talent, research and industry converge.”
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. Pic: Reuters
The Blyth data centre is part of Stargate, Open AI’s infrastructure project to build large data centres across the US.
The company has also developed sites in Norway and the UAE. Nvidia, which provides the graphic processing chips (GPUs), expects to generate $20bn (£14.6bn) by the end of this year from “sovereign” deals with national governments over the coming years.
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, said: “The UK has been a longstanding pioneer of AI, and is now home to world-class researchers, millions of ChatGPT users and a government that quickly recognised the potential of this technology.
“Stargate UK builds on this foundation to help accelerate scientific breakthroughs, improve productivity, and drive economic growth.”
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Microsoft also pledged £22bn, its largest ever investment in the UK, to expand data centres and construct the country’s largest AI supercomputer.
Meanwhile, Google owner Alphabet pledged £5bn to expand its data centres in Hertfordshire and fund its London-based subsidiary DeepMind, which uses AI to power cutting edge scientific research. The company was founded in Britain and acquired by Google in 2014.
Other investments include £1.5bn from AI cloud computing company CoreWeave and £1.4bn from Salesforce.
There are “no discussions around taxpayers’ money” to prop up Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) suppliers, according to the prime minister’s official spokesman, as the carmaker grapples a lengthening production shutdown following last month’s cyber attack.
JLR factories fell silent more than two weeks ago. While it is damaging for the company, it represents a perilous loss of business for the supply chain which has also been forced to send workers home.
Some have already lost their jobs.
Unions and the business and trade committee of MPs were among those to request the possibility of aid to prevent job losses and employers going bust as the disruption drags on.
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What happened?
It was revealed on 1 September that global production at JLR had been stopped following a cyber attack.
IT systems were taken offline by the company under efforts to limit penetration and damage.
The company appeared confident initially that manufacturing could resume but restart dates have been consistently put back.
What damage was done?
Jaguar Land Rover has said very little about the extent of the attack.
But it admitted last week that some data had been accessed. It gave no further details.
Who is to blame?
A criminal investigation is continuing.
A group of English-speaking hackers claimed responsibility for the JLR attack via a Telegram platform called Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, an amalgamation of the names of hacking groups Scattered Spider, Lapsus$ and ShinyHunters.
Scattered Spider, a loose group of relatively young hackers, were behind the Co-Op, Harrods and M&S attacks earlier in the year.
It is widely believed that M&S paid a sum to regain control of its systems after it was targeted with ransomware though it has refused to confirm if this was the case.
How is this affecting JLR as a business?
The business was highly profitable last year but 2025 has seen new trade war challenges in addition to the cyber attack: File pic: Reuters
JLR typically produces about 1,000 vehicles a day.
Production staff are being paid but kept away from plants at Halewood on Merseyside, Solihull in the West Midlands, and its engine factory in Wolverhampton. It is the same story for workers at sites in Slovakia, China and India.
JLR revealed on Tuesday that production lines would now remain shut until at least 24 September.
David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham Business School, told the PA news agency: “The value of cars usually made at the sites means that around £1.7bn worth of vehicles will not have been produced, and I’d estimate that would have an initial impact of around £120m on profits.”
JLR achieved a pre-tax profit of £2.5bn for the financial year ending 31 March 2025, so should be able to absorb such a hit.
Sales and service operations continue as normal at its retail partners but the longer the disruption goes on, so do the risks to its inventories and bottom line.
Why does its supply chain need help?
JLR’s supply chain includes everything from components to paint. Pic: Reuters
This is the part of the operation that was always bound to suffer most in the event of a global JLR production shutdown.
No manufacturing means no need for parts.
The company usually depends on a ‘just in time’ supply chain to feed its factories and keep production lines running smoothly.
The Unite union has appealed for a COVID-style furlough scheme to prevent job losses and the risk of affected companies, often small or medium-sized firms, being forced out of business.
JLR’s operations are understood to directly support more than 100,000 jobs in the UK though that sum doubles through indirect roles.
The loss of any major supplier would risk further production delays once JLR’s IT systems are back online.
It is currently understood that the vast majority of directly affected workers remain in their jobs but have either been sent home or are on restricted tasks.
JLR suppliers Evtec, WHS Plastics, SurTec and OPmobility have had to temporarily lay off roughly 6,000 staff while a growing number of other firms are cutting workers, with temporary or contracted workers most likely to be affected.
What has the government said?
In addition to the remarks by the PM’s official spokesman, minister for industry Chris McDonald told Sky News: “We know this is a worrying time for those affected by this incident and our cyber experts are supporting JLR to help them resolve this issue as quickly as possible.
“I met the company today to discuss their plans to resolve this issue and get production started again, and we continue to discuss the impact on the supply chain.”
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