Reader letter: 'I fear rail industry's attitudes will drive more cars on roads'

I am sure readers will be dismayed by reports of possible widespread rail booking office closures (Observer, May 12).

If this materialises, what happens, for example, when ticket machines fail?

Will passengers be fined for boarding trains ticketless? As noted by the RMT, who can they turn to for advice on train times and the most suitable and value tickets?

You report a Rail Delivery Group spokesman as saying that many passengers are 'migrating to digital technology' (what about those who aren't?) and 'jobs will need to change to become more passenger centric' – whatever that means.

This move would do the exact opposite. Having spent the the last two years telling people to avoid public transport, the problem is getting them back – you don't do that by raising train fares by three times the inflation rate and removing personal contact with passengers.

Can you imagine supermarkets responding to customer loss by reducing tills and raising prices unrealistically?

Southern has also abandoned printed timetables – does it really care about its passengers?

I fear such an attitude will drive more cars on to the roads.

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