The plans to completely close the Borehamwood and Radlett station ticket offices has changed.

Govia Thameslink has now announced they will keep the ticket offices open during peak hours between 7am and 10am.

This announcement has come following discussions with the two rail consumer groups Transport Focus and London TravelWatch, plus feedback from passengers.

Thameslink passenger service director Keith Jipps said: “We appreciate the assistance and views of Transport Focus and London TravelWatch and for their support for our plans going forward.

“We think the consultation has been a success as we have been able to listen to our passengers and modify our proposals to meet their needs now and in the future.

“We believe our new station hosts will be of great benefit to our passengers, providing assistance for more hours each day with the same tickets available as today.”

Thameslink wants to modernise the way it operates 83 of its busier stations including Elstree and Borehamwood and Radlett train stations.

Where ticket sales are low, the train company wants to bring staff out from behind the windows where they are needed the most.

The station hosts will provide assistance and help sell tickets. All the modernised stations will be staffed from the very first train through to the very last.

Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “We are pleased to see that Govia Thameslink Railway has listened to passengers’ concerns and changed their plans to reflect these.

“The pilots are an opportunity to test these plans and monitor their impact.”

A key concern raised during the public consultation into the plans was that stations would not have equipment allowing passengers to buy the full range of tickets that would normally be available from a ticket office.

MP for Hertsmere Oliver Dowden has been pushing for the ticket offices to stay open since the initially announcement to close them.

He said: “I continue to have concerns about the move away from station ticket offices only time will tell if the new station hosts are able to provide the full range of services that are currently provided by ticket offices.

“As I have said before, the phasing out of ticket offices does represent a cultural change and I sympathise with the concerns that have been expressed to me by constituents.

“However, I am glad that Govia appear to have listened to concerns and have amended their plans so that the ticket offices at Borehamwood and Radlett stations will now be open between 7am and 10am.

“I note also that the two main rail travel consumer groups, London TravelWatch and Transport Focus have dropped their opposition to Govia’s plans.”