Move has been condemned by local politician
London Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon, Dr Onkar Sahota, has condemned the closure of ticket offices at stations throughout the borough.
April will see offices at Northfields, South Ealing, Hanger Lane, North Acton, Hillingdon, Ickenham, Ruislip Gardens, South Ruislip, Uxbridge and West Ruislip shutting - marking the start of a process to close ticket offices in 29 stations in Ealing and Hillingdon.
Dr Sahota said the move will leave passengers in Ealing and Hillingdon paying more money for less staff support.
The closures will also see almost 900 staff cut from London’s tube stations.
Dr Onkar Sahota said:
''I am very concerned about the ramifications of these ticket office closures. This argument isn’t about whether staff are based in ticket offices or not. It is about whether there are enough staff in stations to provide the good service people in Ealing and Hillingdon have come to expect, particularly the elderly and disabled who often rely more on station staff for assistance.
''The truth is a staggering £134m of building works and ticket machines won’t make up for the loss of 897 station staff. No matter how user friendly a ticket machine is they cannot provide the same level of advice and customer service that staff could. Coming after tube fares were hiked for the seventh year running many passengers will wonder why they are being asked to pay more money for less staff support on their journey.”
Nick Brown, London Underground's chief operating officer, said more staff were being placed "where they can offer the best possible assistance" as only 3% of Tube tickets were bought at ticket offices.
TfL said all stations would remain staffed and 150 new ticket machines would be installed by April 2016.
30th March 2015
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