As a local Brent councillor I have long been concerned about the state
of Kensal Green Station. Residents have justifiably raised this issue
with me and my colleagues on numerous occasions

The point about station gates and staffing is well made. In the case of
Kensal Green, Silverlink close the ticket office at 20.30.each evening.
It is unclear what security is supposed to be provided after this.
London Underground run stations are better staffed, as a consequence
the gates are kept secure until much latter is the evening

At nearby Queens Park Station, where the ticket office closes at 20.45,
with open access after this time, Silverlink advise that a security
guard is supposed to be present until the station closes. This does
always appear to be the case.

The sooner TfL takes over responsibility for setting standards at these
Silverlink stations the better. Hopefully the staffing and environment
can be improved so that they reach that expected and experienced by
London Underground passengers on other lines and indeed the Bakerloo
south of Queens Park

In the longer term we need to build on the joined up work being
developed by TfL /BTP /Met Police /TOC /local authorities along this
line


Neil



MIG wrote:
downunder wrote:
I notice with interest the pictures of Kensal Green station prior to
that terrible murder. Notice that all the gates are open, indicating
that no staff are on the station at all. So these murderers were able
to mug at least 1 person on the platform and then leave without any
actual witness and then go murder someone.
I'm not suggesting that a staff member would stop these people, but if
the gates were working, staff were in the office actually watching the
CCTV, chances are they could have called for help. I summise these 2
murderers didnt have a ticket and seeing gates in operation may have
persuaded them to exit at another station having just mugged someone,
knowing it was probably seen on CCTV. If not they would have had to
jump the gates, again bringing attention to themselves and possible
descriptions. If only.........
Also am i the only one saying how bad the images are, (if they could
see the faces i'm sure we would all see them by now), and whats the
point of CCTV if no one looks at it. Lets face it, we would never have
known about the platform mugging unless the guy hadn't come forward
well after the event - he had not reported it and wasn't going to.
So nobody watches it, and if they do they can't make out anything
anyway. What a great detterent.
Do we need more staff on the stations - or less?


I use Kensal Green quite often, and the gate situation is difficult to
work out. Sometimes the gates will be open at lunchtime and working in
the evening; sometimes the other way round.

Sometimes the gates will be open even when there are staff in the
office with a clear view of anyone in difficulty.

Of course we need more staff on stations, and on trains. This would be
true if only to help people, provide information etc, rather than act
as enforcers. And there tends to be less to enforce in a well-staffed
and maintained public place than in a deserted place.

Kensal Green platforms are almost totally featureless, with no
information displays or any announcements that I can ever remember.