2 February 2016
RMT Press Office:
RMT to fight "ticket office carnage" that threatens 81 stations across Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern.
RAIL UNION RMT said today that it is to launch an immediate campaign to defend jobs and services as it emerged that 81 stations are being set up to lose their ticket offices in a formal public consultation across routes served by Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express.
Although the plans, driven by the part-French state owned Govia outfit, are legally required to be submitted for formal consultation the company are hell bent on bulldozing through the proposals from June this year.
There are three categories of stations, the first wave, which includes stations like Tooting, Circklewood, Streatham, Alexandra Palace, Selhurst and Wandsworth Common are to close immediately.
A second wave will close shortly after once passengers have been “re-educated” sufficiently into using ticket machines and includes Balham, Loughborough Junction, Reigate, Shoreham, Sutton, City Thameslink and Falmer.
A third wave, which will close outside of peak hours when a longer period of “re-education” has been undertaken, with the threat of eventual total closure, sets up services at stations including Epsom, Leatherhead, Eastbourne, Lewes, Horsham, Hove, Hitchin, Kings Lynn, Hatfield and Potters Bar. A full list of the targets for closure and their categories is set out below.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said:
“These plans, driven by the desire to de-staff our railways in the quest for profit, would unleash a wave of ticket office carnage across rail franchises that are already seen as the basket-cases of Britain’s privatised railway network. It is clear that Govia couldn’t give two hoots about passenger services, jobs and safety and are prepared to milk these routes for every single penny that they can extract regardless of what the travelling public think of them. It is 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 these 81 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.
“RMT is launching a campaign of opposition to these plans and we will be working with the travelling public to stop them in their tracks.”
ends
Notes:
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
Unity House
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