Cuts to SWT ticket office opening hours proposed

4:11pm Tuesday 24th June 2008

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A train operator is refusing to confirm that three major borough stations will have fewer staff if proposals to reduce the opening hours of ticket offices are given the go ahead.

South West Trains (SWT) confirmed this week it had begun a consultation with unions and passenger groups into a reduction of opening hours at some "lesser used booking offices" which could see 118 positions lost.

“I suspect that local rail users will not understand why there are cuts in services when rail fares are rising faster than inflation.”

Twickenham MP Vincent Cable

But it would not comment on a suggestion from Twickenham MP Vincent Cable that staff numbers at Twickenham, Richmond and Teddington stations were set to drop.

Dr Cable called for SWT management to explain what the cuts would mean but a company spokeswoman said definitive announcements would not be made as locations for ticket office changes were not yet known.

Dr Cable said: "There is already a great deal of frustration with defective ticket machines and with passengers unable to obtain tickets before they travel.

"More generally, passengers are already anxious about security on stations, especially at night, and only two weeks ago Teddington - which now loses staff - was given a Safe Station award.

"I suspect that local rail users will not understand why there are cuts in services when rail fares are rising faster than inflation."

An SWT spokeswoman said the way train tickets were bought had changed dramatically and a review of ticket office sales led to proposals to reduce the opening hours of ticket offices at 114 stations.

"We have not reviewed opening hours for more than 10 years," she said. "Around 40 per cent are now bought from Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs), double what it was two years ago.

"We are not proposing to close any ticket offices completely, just to adjust the hours of those where it is not commercially viable to keep them open during quiet periods.

"We are not planning any compulsory redundancies and plan to achieve the reduction through natural wastage."

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