London Underground Shutting Ticket Offices

[6Foot2]

Link: BBC News - Tube ticket offices to close and 750 jobs to go

 

...The Tube will also run 24 hours a day on Fridays and Saturdays on some lines...

 

...It is also promising:

• Wi-fi coverage across all below-ground stations
  
• Disabled access at a further 27 stations
  
• Contactless bank card payment to make it easier to pay for tickets
  
• More new trains and updates for stations...
  

 

...The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), which represents most of the station staff who would be affected, has already said it would "fight these plans with every tool at our disposal and that includes political, public and industrial campaigning on an unprecedented scale"...

[rickjames]

Smart by TFL to lump in 24 hour trains into the presser. I haven't used a TO in years but kind of get then again as a resident they're not intended for me.

 

Can't wait to see this put into place, it'll be chaos.

[gwendes]

Can't they just get rid of the useless staff and keep the TOs? I'm the same, rarely use them.

Oyster card vending machines should be brought back!

 

24hr Northern Line? HELL YES!

[CAM]

The staff are moving from the ticket office to the gates, can't see any problem aside from some of the jobs getting cut. The only time I have used the ticket office was to moan about an Oyster penalty! The unions will wreck this though so don't hedge bets on 24 hour trains just yet.

 

My primary concern is if this spreads to National Rail as those ticket offices are useful! I use my local one heavily and rarely visit the machines as the staff are good at working out the best routes and fares for you.

[gwendes]

The staff are moving from the ticket office to the gates, can't see any problem aside from some of the jobs getting cut. The only time I have used the ticket office was to moan about an Oyster penalty! The unions will wreck this though so don't hedge bets on 24 hour trains just yet.

 

My primary concern is if this spreads to National Rail as those ticket offices are useful! I use my local one heavily and rarely visit the machines as the staff are good at working out the best routes and fares for you.

 

What about small stations? Recently all the ticket machines weren't working/accepting cash and I would have been screwed without the ticket office. Broken Oyster card? Gate staff are useful but I fail to see how operating TO costs much more...

[Andrew_C]

I avoid the Smoke like the plague. Having a real person to ask is a boon; yes you can buy a ticket froma machine, but it won't tell you the BEST way to get from Richmond to the O2 is to use the train to Waterloo, then UG. I'd have just hopped on the tube.

[sidewinder]

I very rarely use them, but it wouldn't be the smartest idea to close them. Reduce them at big stations maybe but there needs to be some prescence.

 

24 hour opening though? Fantastic, though in fairness the night buses aren't too bad

 

I avoid the Smoke like the plague. Having a real person to ask is a boon; yes you can buy a ticket froma machine, but it won't tell you the BEST way to get from Richmond to the O2 is to use the train to Waterloo, then UG. I'd have just hopped on the tube.

 

You should know that the tube is rarely the best route anywhere from Richmond!

[CAM]

What about small stations? Recently all the ticket machines weren't working/accepting cash and I would have been screwed without the ticket office. Broken Oyster card? Gate staff are useful but I fail to see how operating TO costs much more...

 

London Underground would be fools not to have a backup system for that scenario. Even National Rail have a last ditch failsafe with the Permit to Travel machines (which in themselves are a poor system nobody knows about!). There has to be a member of staff round though if a station has ticket barriers. If the ticket office was the backup system, they'd need to replace it with something else or fare enforcement will collapse.

[SteveT]

What is this "Tube" of which you speak and the National Press and media seems full of reports on?

 

For the vast majority of the inhabitants of these fair Isles .... the Tube was a really good TV show from newcastle in the 80s that featured various popular music combos!

[john]

Oyster card vending machines should be brought back!

 

I used one the other week to get a card for my sister, they seem to have modded a normal card payment only machine to spit out cards as well so was happy with that

[FN-GM]

I hate using ticket machines

[gwendes]

I used one the other week to get a card for my sister, they seem to have modded a normal card payment only machine to spit out cards as well so was happy with that

 

Nifty. Where was that? Also, refunds for those of us who've got a few cards now?

[john]

Nifty. Where was that? Also, refunds for those of us who've got a few cards now?

 

You can take the card back to a ticket office and get the deposit back

 

Euston was this machine, it was a normal machine as I expected to get a paper one but it said you can buy your oyster here so I did

[CAM]

Proposed Night Tube map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/corporate/cstp-night-map-2.jpg

[elsiegee40]

Proposed Night Tube map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/corporate/cstp-night-map-2.jpg

 

No Circle Line? That makes things much more difficult and the rest of it less useful.

[robk]

You can take the card back to a ticket office and get the deposit back

 

Euston was this machine, it was a normal machine as I expected to get a paper one but it said you can buy your oyster here so I did

 

Kings cross / St Pancras tube has the same machines. I was looking at the ticket office queue until I realised they were available!