Time is running down to have your say on the consultation on cutting hundreds of train ticket offices, including Frome.

There has been widespread anger at the plans, which would be applied across the country, which will especially hit less-abled passengers, specifically those with sight problems but also, many say, make stations less safe for those with children or with additional travel needs.

Passengers with comments on the proposals need to contact Transport Focus and share what the changes will mean for them.

It is important to note that each train company has produced its own proposals – so there are 13 separate consultations running simultaneously rather than one, national consultation. Transport Focus will need to send a separate response to each consultation, commenting on the stations it covers.

So for train users in Frome you can give your views on South West and on GWR. sites on a proposal the company refers to as 'modernising our retail offer'

All feedback must be received by Wednesday 26 July.

You can email your response using one of two email addresses [email protected] and/or [email protected]

The Mayor of Frome has already made his thoughts clear, appearing here with Anna who has worked in the Frome train ticket office for 21 years

⁩ ⁦Frome Town Council has published its opposition to the planned closures HERE The Town Clerk states: " Closing the ticket office would fly in the face of all that Frome needs and we urge GWR not to close it. It would be a retrograde and will not support this town to remain vibrant and to provide sustainable transport options in the face of the climate emergency.

"Closing the ticket office will probably mean closing the waiting room and access to toilets. We simply do not accept that a busy and growing town and a community with increasing demand for train travel should be discouraged to travel in this way. "

The Royal National Institute for the Blind, which opposes the plans, has carried out research of its members which showed:

• Only 3 per cent of blind and partially sighted respondents said they could use a ticket vending machine without problems.
• 76 per cent said they would prefer to buy tickets from a person at a ticket office.

Proposals are that almost all of the 1,007 remaining train ticket offices, bar those at the very busiest stations, will shut within the next three years.