Ticket Office Campaign
Daily Mirror
At stake were not just thousands of jobs but an essential service for disabled and elderly passengers.
The Mirror also instinctively understood how ticket office staff provide human interaction in an increasingly impersonal and digitised world and axing then would weaken yet another piece of the glue that binds our society.
The paper’s Save our Ticket Offices campaign struck a chord with readers and travellers.
We won support from the unions, disabled campaigners, organisations representing the older generation and MPs from all the main parties.
Our coverage - in print, online and digital - drew attention to the priceless work ticket office staff do in maintaining safety and helping passengers board trains and navigate the complicate ticketing system.
We debunked the claim by the rail companies that this was in the interest of passengers after a whistleblower revealed the real intention was to cut costs.
And we held ministers’ feet to the fire by revealing how Conservative MPs, including the minister Robert Jenrick, had tried to stop the closures in their own constituencies.
To promote the campaign the Mirror held an online rally with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and the RMT’s Mick Lynch and promoted a rally outside No 10.
Our determination to halt the closures saw more than 750,000 people - a record number - respond to the public consultation and resulted in a debate in Parliament after more than 100,000 people signed a petition. This pressure brought results. In a major victory for the Mirror, the rail firms capitulated and announced the closures would no longer go ahead.
Mr Burnham praised the Mirror’s “major campaign” as being instrumental in halting the plans. This is the Mirror at its campaigning best: championing an issue that is true to our readers’ hearts and using our voice and influence to change people’s minds.