On 11 Aug, 15:52, Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at
05:42:45 on Wed, 11 Aug 2010, Paul remarked:

Both unions believe that 800 posts are under threat and more than 140
ticket offices will close, which they say threatens safety.

Getting on a train without a ticket is often quite dangerous.
--
Roland Perry

As I understand it, there will be no compulsory redundancies as a
result of this exercise, and no ticket offices will close completely.
What is going to happen is that ticket offices will close earlier than
at present, and that staff will be redeployed elsewhere in the
station.
Surely moving staff from behind the ticket office window into the
booking hall, passageways and platforms would make a station safer,
not the other way round? If there is a member of station staff in the
booking hall, they can assist customers who need to purchase tickets,
and make sure that the ticket machines are in working order, and
adequately stocked with change. Perhaps Comrade Crow would like to
explain how systems such as the Tyne & Wear Metro can be considered
safe when they have no ticket offices at all.