Plans to close Wembley Park tube ticket station

From Harrow Observer

Mar 23 2010

LEAKED documents have exposed plans to close the ticket office at
Wembley Park Tube Station.

Other ticket offices across Brent are expected to have their opening
times reduced including Kingsbury, Neasden, Dollis Hill and Willesden
Green.

Councillor Navin Shah, Labour London Assembly member for Brent and
Harrow, accused the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, of breaking his
promise to keep ticket offices opened.

He said: "The Mayor promised to protect ticket offices. But the
closures and reductions in opening hours in outer London means he has
broken this promise.

"Boris Johnson misled Londoners when he said that no ticket offices
will close – a proposal that constitutes one of his biggest broken
election promises.

"Nearly five hundred ticket office staff will be lost under these cuts
and many stations will feel less safe and less friendly as a result of
this broken election pledge”.

A Transport for London (TfL) spokeswoman said that despite the
closures, there would still be staff at the stations.

She said: "All our stations will be staffed throughout the day from
first train to last to help and reassure passengers, and all stations
with ticket offices will continue to have one, with opening hours that
meet customer demand.

"Our proposal will deliver the high standards of safety and customer
service that passengers expect, whilst also delivering greater value
for money as all public services must do.

"We are also committed to no compulsory redundancies."

A date is yet to be set for the changes because trade unions have just
entered a period of consultation about the effects the plans could
have on staffing levels.

TfL added: "We have just started consultation and we urge the trade
unions to engage responsibly in that consultation."

London Travelwatch, Transport watchdog, said: "We will be asking TfL
very detailed questions about any proposals to ensure that passengers’
concerns are taken into account.

"We know that passengers want and need staff at stations to give
advice and information, and it is vital that staff are available at
all times.

"This may not necessarily be in a ticket office or not, but we will
want assurances that there will always be staff on hand to help
passengers, as well as to re-assure them.

"We expect to be holding a public meeting about this in the next
couple of months."

.................................................. ....................................
John Burke
WRUG