RAIL union RMT criticised railway companies yesterday after thousands of commuters were unable to collect prepaid tickets from machines in the rush hour.

Greater Anglia, Thameslink, Stansted Express, Southern, South Eastern and ScotRail franchises were all hit by machine problems in the morning.

Not a single customer was able to collect tickets from London’s Liverpool Street station until the problem was fixed at about 10am.

Customers were encouraged by phone helplines to contact ticket staff. But in many cases there were no staff at ticket offices due to budget cuts.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash told the Star: “This news makes a mockery of the Rail Delivery Group claims on Monday that we can move seamlessly to a national automated ticket service where the machine rules.

“Passengers would be left at the mercy of failing technology without ticket office or station staff on hand to help them out.”