Positions them at places where tickets can be bought (8)
I believe the answer is:
stations
'positions' is the definition.
(I know this)
'them at places where tickets can be bought' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'at' could be 'on' (location) and 'on' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stations that I've seen before include "places of work" , "Stopping places as for railway trains" , "Bases, posts" , "Waterloo, Victoria, etc" , "Passenger train stops" .)