Thank you to all those who have written to me about Southern Rail’s latest crazy plans to close down a number of the ticket offices at local stations. We are already on the case. After all the complaints they have had about poor reliability and having the poorest punctuality (actually lack of it) record in the country this is just adding insult to injury.As many people have already pointed out very often the ticket machines are not working and do not necessarily offer the cheapest fare and certainly cannot advise on how to get from A to B as effectively as possible, especially on complicated journeys.
Thank you especially to all those who signed the petition started by Conservative councillors in Lancing which was particularly popular at our street surgery in the village on Saturday. Copies have now been distributed around local shops and you can post your comments on my Facebook page or email me and I shall add them to the petition to pass on. Alternatively, you can sign an online petition I have started here: https://www.change.org/p/southern-network-rail-closure-of-lancing-worthing-and-shoreham-ticker-offices-by-southern-and-network-rail?recruiter=360607140&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink
I have posted below exactly what is proposed for different categories of local stations apparently all in the name of an ‘enhanced customer experience’:
Model 1
Stations included in the proposals:
Battersea Park, Carshalton Beeches, Gipsy Hill, Peckham Rye, Queens Road Peckham, Selhurst, Streatham, Streatham Common, Streatham Hill, South Croydon, Tulse Hill, Wandsworth Common, West Norwood
What is changing? :
· Fewer than 12 tickets per hour are sold from the ticket office at these stations. The majority of customers use ticket machines and smartcard technology so there is minimal need for a ticket office
· At these stations we will propose to close the ticket office windows and move people out onto the concourse as ‘Station Hosts’
· Station Hosts will be
o visible and available from first service until the last, which is longer than current ticket hours in many cases
o trained in customer service
o able to sell tickets and provide information using a new handheld device
o helping passengers use the ticket machines
Model 2
Stations included in the proposals:
Balham, Carshalton, Caterham, Coulsdon South, Falmer, Lancing, Purley, Norbury, Reigate, Sanderstead, Shoreham-by-sea, Sutton, Thornton Heath, Wallington
What is changing? :
· More than 12 tickets are sold per hour at these stations but still the majority of customers use ticket machines and other ways to pay
· At these stations we propose to relocate the ticket selling equipment to a station hosting point so the staff are available on the concourse, but still able to sell the full range of tickets from first to last train
· At these stations we will propose to move people onto the concourse as ‘Station Hosts’
· Station Hosts will be -
o visible and available from first service until the last, which is longer than current ticket hours in many cases
o trained in customer service
o able to sell tickets and provide information using a new handheld device
o helping passengers use the ticket machines
Model 3
Stations included in the proposals:
Angmering, Ashtead, Barnham, Bexhill, Bognor Regis, Burgess Hill, Chichester, Crawley, Dorking, Eastbourne, East Grinstead, Epsom, Hassocks, Horley, Horsham, Hove, Leatherhead, Lewes, Littlehampton, Merstham, Oxted, Polegate, Portslade, Worthing
What is changing? :
· These stations still rely heavily on ticket offices as well as the ticket machines
· At these stations we propose to relocate the ticket selling equipment to a station hosting point so the staff are available on the concourse, but still able to sell the full range of tickets from first to last train
· We will also staff the ticket office window at peak times to manage the demand
· At these stations we propose to move people out onto the concourse as ‘Station Hosts’ and apply to close the ticket office at off-peak times but have it open and staffed at peak times
· Station Hosts will be
o visible and available from first service until the last, which is longer than current ticket hours in many cases
o trained in customer service
o able to sell tickets and provide information using a new handheld device
o helping passengers use the ticket machines
GTR, as Southern are now called are running a short 3 week consultation starting from today. I would strongly urge all constituents to lodge their objections with GTR direct and encourage friends and family to do likewise. Please copy me in by all means. GTR contact details are: http://www.thameslinkrailway.com/contact-us/
If you have seen my website and newsletter you will be aware that we had a big ‘showdown’ in Parliament on 11 January 2016 involving Network Rail, GTR, the Rail Minister, Department for Transport officials and about 20 angry MPs from Sussex and South London. They were left in no uncertain terms about the pressure on them to get their act together with the standard of their service or face losing their franchise. Subsequently, I have been posting their daily punctuality charts on my website, which lays bare just how poor reliability has been, and I have challenged GTR to send down senior officials to take complaints from commuting constituents head on, this can include people concerned about the ticket office issue too. In addition, we have an ongoing row over reopening the pedestrian subway at Shoreham station which is so frustrating for people having to wait ages at the crossing. We thought we had been making progress there with the Shoreham Society but things just keep going round in circles so I have asked them whether they can come down on 12March 2016 when a demonstration is planned and we can ‘kill 3 birds with one stone’ perhaps. I will keep you posted of when it is likely to happen as soon as I know.
As usual if you have any further questions then let me know and I will be updating my newsletter at the end of the month.
Full details for Southern stations –
www.southernrailway.com/your-journey/station-information/changes-to-our-stations
For details of the Thameslink and Great Northern stations –
www.thameslinkrailway.com/your-journey/station-information/changes-to-our-stations
Contact details for London TravelWatch –
http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/contact/contact_us
Contact details for Transport Focus –
http://www.transportfocus.org.uk/contact
Attached below is a summary of the changes GTR are making to some of its busier stations: