Ticket office “carnage” plan across the South in disarray

RAIL UNION RMT said today that plans to axe and downgrade 81 rail station ticket office across the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise are in disarray, with the public consultation delayed, as pressure from the union over the threat to services, jobs and safety has hit home.

When RMT was handed a leak of the plans less than two weeks ago the union launched an immediate campaign to defend jobs and services at the 81 stations being set up to lose their ticket offices across routes served by Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express RMT has now learnt that the public consultation on the plans has been delayed, although not scrapped, as the company have encountered a groundswell of public anger from the Midlands down to the South Coast.

RMT made it clear today that the union campaign will continue and will be stepped up as Govia Thameslink regroup and redraw the consultation timetable. A postcard campaign is ready to roll urging the public to engage in the pending consultation and asking them to apply pressure to local politicians across the routes affected.

There are three categories of stations in the closure programme, 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:

“RMT hit the ground running last week with our campaign to stop Govia’s Thameslink  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 timetable is now in disarray as the plans have sparked a storm of public outrage and the union will step up the fight as the company now regroup. We have no intention of allowing these plans to be bulldozed through and Govia should be forced to pull the proposals in their entirety.

“These plans, driven by the desire to de-staff our railways in the quest for profit, across rail franchises that are already seen as the basket-cases of Britain’s privatised railway network, can be stopped.  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. 

“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 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 will be stepping up the campaign of opposition to these delayed and discredited plans and we will be working with the travelling public to stop them in their tracks.”

 

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