Railway ticket offices cut hours

The ticket office opening hours are expected to change later this year

Two railway stations in Devon are to cut their ticket office opening hours.

Honiton and Axminster stations will both be affected by the changes, which are expected to come into force later this year.

South West Trains had wanted to make cuts in its ticket office hours at 114 stations across the south of England.

However, the government rejected proposals to reduce hours at offices during times when on average 12 or more tickets are issued hourly.

Passengers will be able to buy tickets from machines when the offices are closed.

Transport Minister Andrew Adonis said: "We have acted to protect passengers from unacceptable cuts, ensuring that tickets continue to be easily available and that ticket offices are staffed during busy periods.

"We have also sought an assurance from South West Trains that, where ticket office hours are reduced in periods of very low demand, passengers can still buy a wide range of tickets."

A spokesperson for South West Trains said: "We are obviously disappointed... as we believe [our proposals] made good commercial sense and reflected the way retailing is changing."

No date has been set for the change in opening hours.