Illustration by John Sadler www.johnsadlerillustration.com 

• JOHN Scott-Morgan has nicely summed up the importance of ticket offices and the insensitive attitude of the decision makers, (Fight to stop ticket office closures, May 18).

But the problems he describes are just the thin end of the wedge, because elderly and vulnerable users are not the only victims of these ruthless cuts in customer service.

Earlier this month I was unable to top up my Oyster card at Finsbury Park – a major transport hub – because the machines were either broken or card-only and the newsagents were experiencing an internet server outage.

This might seem like a minor inconvenience to the smug policy-makers who believe that all problems can be solved with contactless bank cards, smartphones and other volatile gadgets; but it is yet another sign that our integrated transport system has fallen apart and its customers are systematically alienated.

If rumours are true then Transport for London will scrap the Oyster cards in a heartbeat and we will lose a self-contained card that gives us freedom, convenience and accountability for each journey. They will hand control to the banks, all our transactions will get lost in the noise, and it will be impossible to supply journey vouchers to family or visitors.

Experience and government advice have always taught me to keep valuables out of pickpockets’ reach in busy places, and that’s why the Oyster is indispensable. If I drop my Oyster card I might lose an item worth £10 whereas if I drop or scratch my phone or bank card, I could be unable to function for a week or longer.

We are sleepwalking into a society where our phones, bank cards and cryptic passwords have become vital organs, yet they are less reliable, protected, or sustainable than the organs we were born with. Ironically, at a time when our dependency on banks is escalating, their reckless bosses are closing branches and eradicating any human contact with their funders.

As Mr Scott-Morgan points out, the national media has been silent on these issues, so it must be as unfit for purpose as the fickle electronic infrastructure that is being imposed on us against our better judgment.

IAN SHACKLOCK, N4