On 21/11/2013 12:22, Recliner wrote:
On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:11:38 +0000, Mizter T
wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25025888
---quote---
Every ticket office on the Tube is to shut by 2015 under plans that will
see 750 jobs cut.
Transport for London (TfL) said staff will be moved from behind ticket
office windows to be in the station itself to help passengers.
The Tube will also run 24 hours a day on Fridays and Saturdays on some
lines.
[...]
TfL says six major central London stations will have special customer
points to help tourists and that every station will be staffed while the
tube is running.
---/quote---
Blimey - I knew fewer ticket offices is the general direction of things,
but wasn't expecting quite such a radical proposal. The pill is of
course sweetened by the plan for 24hr running on some Tube lines, which
in its own right is most welcome.
It's been rumoured for a while, and is I suppose the inevitable
consequence of the move to largely smartcard and machine-bought
tickets. But the weekend running is more unexpected. And, as the
article also mentions, that means some stations will need to be manned
24 hours a day over the weekend. Will the unions tolerate
single-manned stations at 3am in south or east London?
Or indeed west or north London.
Anyhow, your prejudices aside, AFAICS the proposals don't explicitly
talk about single staffing of stations - of course the unions will say
the threat is implicit.
Re the ticketing - the crucial change will be the acceptance of
Contactless Payment Cards (CPCs - e.g. Visa payWave) on the Tube. This
will I think lead to a fairly revolutionary change (with the significant
caveat that many passengers won't have access to a CPC), but it'll only
really make sense if NR in London also accepts CPCs in the same manner.
Re the 24hr running - I could perhaps see a case for the Bank branch of
the Northern line to run as well, given how popular Shoreditch/ Hoxton
(served by Old Street) and Islington (served by Angel) are as
nightspots. That said, parts of the London Overground network - the East
London Line and at least some of the North London Line - would attract a
significant nocturnal patronage if they were open for business too.
"Night Tube" map:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...ight-map-2.jpg