They don't care about the small loss they'd make on the commission etc, it would be buttons in the scheme of things.
It's not about revenue, it's about a narrative that ticket offices are still necessary and relevant despite their dwindling use and absolutely astronomical cost, therefore anything that results in a visit to one is important. It's too hot politically, especially at the moment.
Pay as you Go will come in over the next year or so, as will some new local government, who will have to no doubt deal with further financial pressures as the economy remains turbulent. The ticket office issue will become unsustainable as they become almost entirely disused, at which point they may as well go all in with the rest of the smart ticketing, at which point nobody will really care about the ticket offices, especially with level boarding at most stations available.
I'm pretty sure that in reality this is mainly down to the local PTE Merseytravel/ Liverpool City Region more than Merseyrail, (who are just hopeless at the messaging). It's always the same story at the end of a franchise/concession, everything is stored up ready for the next one, whether it's rolling stock or fares reform.
