To London and the South East, London Transport and London and Greater Anglia Regions
NP/R2/11/18
Dear Colleagues
SAVE OUR TICKET OFFICES Formal Consultation on Arriva Rail London (ARL) and Transport for London (TfL) plans to close ticket offices at 51 stations ending 11th OCTOBER
Arriva Rail London believe that the closure of the ticket offices listed below will “represent an improvement on current arrangements in terms of the quality of service”. RMT believes the proposal is damaging and detrimental and that there is still a clear need for human interaction as a safeguard for passengers buying tickets. Replacing staffed ticket offices with ticket machines will undoubtedly limit the quality and range of services available to passengers.
Branches are asked to organise now to leaflet stations on the 3rd October day of action.
Proposed ticket offices to be closed are Acton Central, Anerley, Brondesbury, Brondesbury Park, Bruce Grove, Bush Hill Park, Caledonian Road & Barnsbury, Camden Road, Canonbury, Carpenders Park, Clapton, Dalston Kingsland, Dalston Junction, Finchley Road & Frognal, Gospel Oak, Hackney Central, Hackney Downs, Hackney Wick, Haggerston, Hampstead Heath, Hatch End, Headstone Lane, Homerton, Honor Oak Park, Hoxton, Imperial Wharf, Kensal Rise, Kensington (Olympia), Kentish Town West, Kilburn High Road, Penge West, Rectory Road, Rotherhithe, Shadwell, Shepherds Bush, Shoreditch High Street, Silver Street, South Acton, South Hampstead, Southbury, St James Street, Stamford Hill, Stoke Newington, Surrey Quays, Theobalds Grove, Turkey Street, Wapping, Watford High Street, West Hampstead, White Hart Lane and Wood Street.
Please contact Maria Santamera M.Santamera@rmt.org.uk to receive postcards with the name and address to send the cards to, the name of the station you will be leafletting along with the times of day. We only have 3 weeks to get responses back to the statutory consultation by 11th October. I know each and every one of you will do all you can to maximise activity on the day (or another day if the 3rd October is not convenient).
We have a page about the campaign on our website from which you can send an e-mail direct to London TravelWatch either about all the stations or a specific station
Please share this widely with colleagues, friends and family, http://bit.ly/2QNLYkE on social media and any groups you are a member of.
If these changes go ahead RMT believes that passengers:
· may not be able to access all the tickets and services needed from a ticket machine
· may find it harder to obtain advice on tickets and fares
· would be frustrated that there were insufficient numbers of ticket machines
· would experience more delays and concourse congestion
· who are disabled, elderly and vulnerable may be less confident using a ticket machine and may end up overspending or being deterred from travelling; and
· that by leaving stations understaffed and sometimes unstaffed it will make
it harder to provide a safe and secure environment — especially with CCTV left unmonitored.
I will be calling on Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to oppose this retrograde step in the strongest possible terms and to ensure that instead of shutting them down ticket offices are celebrated for the role that they play in the life of a station.
London needs to welcome its passengers, visitors and tourists not with a machine, but a welcoming and friendly ticket office that can provide a full range of services. Please do all you can to support this important RMT campaign.
Yours sincerely,
Mick Cash
General Secretary