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Walter Briscoe · January 3rd 09, 09:43 AM posted to uk.transport.london

In message
of
Fri, 2 Jan 2009 14:09:23 in uk.transport.london,
writes
Hi all,

Does anyone know exactly what the point of the tube ticket office
closures is for underground stations?

I was under the impression that it would be used to have the staff be
more proactive and thus providing better customer service. A trip to
Regents Park the other weekend revealed that rather than being behind
the glass screen of the ticket office, the staff are now behind
another glass screen - that of the old ticket collectors' booth.

When I returned later there was nobody to be seen anywere near the
barriers so I assume the staff must have vanished into some sort of
hidden cupboard somewhere.

Regent's Park is unusual in not having a ticket office.
It does have POM's (Passenger Operated Machines aka ticket machines).
You would have seen the glass screens of the control room. Staff can
check camera monitors here. Whiteboards sometimes obscure it for
customers.
Staff sometimes sit in GLAPs (Gate Line Access Points?), the telephone
box sized booth next to the gate line even though I have seen
instructions saying it's only meant as a place of safety. In the cold
weather and when stations are almost empty, I think it is reasonable to
them to be used.

You should have been observed if the gates were operational.
I find unstaffed, operational gates quite unsatisfactory.
At Hainault, a couple of weeks ago, I saw that it took some time for
staff to appear from the control room to assist a child attempting to
exit the gate line at about 16.20 on a weekday.
I did not report it; I limit my complaints.
--
Walter Briscoe