2 March 2016
RMT Press Office
RMT launches next phase of fight over rail ticket office closures in Balham tomorrow.
This Thursday’s morning rush hour (3rd March) - from 7.30 am at South London’s Balham train station - will see RMT members and Assistant General Secretary Steve Hedley out in force to encourage passengers to protest and complain about Govia’s outrageous plans to get rid of ticket offices.
Balham’s Ticket Office is being scheduled for closure later this year. In future the primary point for purchasing tickets on the station will be from the self- service machines or from the staff on the platforms.
Balham’s passengers per annum has been rising consistently between 2004/5 and 2014/15 and footfall has more than doubled, increasing by over 140%, to a staggering 7,643,798 passengers a year.
With no thought other than for cutting costs Govia’s passengers are destined in the future for more delays in getting tickets, difficulty in getting the advice they require and ultimately overspending on limited options from a machine. In addition that is to worrying about security at the station as the secure ticket office was a valuable deterrent against crime.
RMT will be out in force as well across the region as these proposals are being rushed through with no attempt at proper consultation and all responses must be back with statutory watchdog London Travelwatch by 11:59pm on Sunday 13 March
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said:
“The next phase of RMT’s fight to end the ticket office closure programme kicks off in Balham with this important event that will be taking the message out to thousands of passengers who will see their services ripped to shreds if these plans aren’t stopped in their tracks.
“RMT has set the pace with our campaign to stop Govia’s Thameslink Railways from unleashing ticket office carnage across the routes that make up this franchise as they look to sacrifice, jobs, services and safety in the drive to line their own pockets at the passengers expense. The consultation process has already descended into complete and utter chaos and this is a shameful way to treat passengers who pay a fortune to use the services on this basket-case franchise. The plans have sparked a storm of public outrage and the union will now step up the fight starting with the event in Balham .
“RMT has no intention of allowing these plans to be bulldozed through and Govia should be forced to pull the proposals in their entirety.
“The bottom line is that these plans are a disgrace and Govia should be slung out and these essential rail services taken into public ownership before these latest profit-driven cuts are allowed to rip through 84 stations from North to South. It is no coincidence that this threat comes as Southern are already gearing up to axe guards from their services in yet another lethal gamble with safety-critical jobs on some of Britain’s most dangerously overcrowded trains and platforms.
Note to editors:
Full list of threatened stations:
PROPOSED TICKET OFFICE CLOSURE FROM JUNE 2016
GSM London Bridge
Queens Road
Peckham
Selhust
Tulse Hill
Wandsworth Common
West Norwood
Streatham
Streatham Hill
Streatham Common
Gipsy Hill
GSM Victoria
Battersea Park
GSM East Croydon & Purley
Carshalton Beeches
South Croydon
GSM TL North
Cricklewood
GSM TL South
Loughborough Junction
Tooting
Denmark Hill
Alexandra Palace
Enfield Chase
New Barnet
Palmers Green
STATIONS IN PHASE TWO NO TICKET OFFICE IN FUTURE but DATE NOT KNOWN YET FOR CLOSURE
GSM London Bridge
Norbury
Thornton Heath
Balham
GSM East Croydon and Purley
Caterham
Wallington
Carshalton
Purley
Sutton
Caterham
GSM Brighton
Coulsdon South
Reigate
GSM East Coastway
Sanderstead
Falmer
GSM West Coastway
Shoreham-By-Sea
Lancing
GSM TL North
Mill Hill Broadway
Radlett
Elstree
Luton Airport Parkway
GSM TL South
City Thameslink
West Hampstead
Hornsey Gordon Hill
Winchmore Hill
STATIONS WITH MAJOR CHANGES WITH PEAK HOURS OPENING ONLY
GSM East Croydon and Purley
Dorking
Leatherhead
Epsom
Ashtead
GSM Brighton
Burgess Hill
Hassocks
Merstham
Horley
GSM East Coastway
Eastbourne
Bexhill
Lewes
Polegate
Oxted
East Grinstead
GSM West Coastway
Chichester
Angmering
Worthing
Crawley
Littlehampton
Horsham
Portslade
Bognor Regis
Barnham
Hove
Chichester
GSM TL North
Leagrave
Flitwick
Harpenden
GSM GN North
Sandy
Hitchin
Kings Lynn
Huntingdon
Stevenage
St Neots
Letchworth
Royston
GSM TL South
Potters Bar
Hatfield
Welwyn Garden City
Hertford
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Tagged with: govia, southern, great northern, thameslink, ticket office
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