With the announcment of rail firms’ plans to close of most of England’s ticket offices, Totnes is one of the many railway stations that risks losing its ticket office.

The move comes with plans to “modernise” the railway, and has angered both trade unions and passengers.

The plans will see the closing down of 1,007 remaining offices within three years, and many fear this could lead to job losses across the rail industry. The closures are a result of a decline in ticket sales from the offices.

Jacqueline Starr, Rail Delivery Group chief executive, said: “The ways our customers buy tickets has changed and it’s time for the railway to change with them. With just 12% of tickets being sold from ticket offices last year, and 99% of those transactions being available on TVMs or online, our proposals would mean more staff on hand on to give face to face help with a much wider range of support, from journey planning, to finding the right ticket andz helping those with accessibility needs.”

The General Secretary of the RMT Mick Lynch said: “The train operating companies and the government must understand that we will vigorously oppose any moves to close ticket offices. We will not meekly sit by and allow thousands of jobs to be sacrificed or see disabled and vulnerable passengers left unable to use the railways as a result. RMT will bring into effect the full industrial force of the union to stop any plans to close ticket offices.”