OPPOSITION to plans to shut ticket offices at rail stations across Bradford continued to mount over the weekend - with passenger groups wading into the fierce debate.

Rail station ticket offices at Bingley, Bradford Forster Square, Shipley and Keighley are set to close under proposals announced on Wednesday.

Train companies and the Department of Transport insist the nationwide move will “modernise” the railways and will affect only 12 per cent of passengers who still buy their tickets from kiosks.

Ticket offices are well used by a vast range of people from elderly people who prefer face-to-face contact, to those without access to smartphones.

Aire Valley Rail Users Group chairman, Tim Calow, said: “We are not at all happy about it.

“It’s very much a national thing but there needs to be some longer-term work on doing different things with ticket offices to make them more useful to customers.

“But this closure seems to be a national thing between Department for Transport and train unions.”

The offices in the district have been described as ‘well used’ and many people reply on these kiosks to buy tickets for local and national journeys which they may be unable to purchase online or at ticket machines.

“Out ticket offices in Airedale, Bingley, Shipley and Bradford Forster Square are well used.

“There are tickets that you cannot get online or via the ticket machines such as particular tourist tickets.

“We also have people who don’t have access to smart phones and ticket machines aren’t the easiest to use and people want someone to listen to what they want.”

A local rail group has asked the government to scrap these plans, claiming it will deter people from using trains and bring more cars on the road.

Nina Smith, Chair of Railfuture Yorkshire, said: “It’s absolutely disastrous. What this will do is inconvenience nearly 150 million passengers nationally, who use ticket offices.

“There isn’t the same choice of tickets at the ticket machine, and they are complicated to use.

“Currently you can go to any ticket office and buy a train ticket to anywhere, and the ticket office will get you the cheapest ticket but that won’t be the case anymore.

“If someone from Keighley wants to buy a ticket from Hull to Bridlington, they won’t be able to buy it at the machine.

“This is a public service and without them, we are encouraging less people to use trains and more cars on the roads.

“We ask the government to scrap the plans.”