This document replaces all previous information supplied by Streatham Action in relation to the proposed closure of ticket offices and the redeploying of ticket office staff to concourse working.
I and my Streatham Action Transport group colleague, Emma Elliott, both attended an online meeting with representatives from GTR on Friday 14th July and subsequently received some specific further information – at our request – on the precise usage of our three Streatham ticket offices. This data, which is mainly centred on the recent one-month period between 29th April and 26th May, is all contained within an appendix to this document. I would encourage you to take a look at that additional information, which has been supplied by GTR on the back of a series of requests from us. You will also see additional ticket office usage data for the quarterly period between January and March 2022.
This is all information that extends beyond what is contained on the GTR website, which focuses on the proposed hours of operation for staff operating on the three stations’ concourses, alongside details on how to respond.
Please take the time to respond to this consultation by London TravelWatch. The consultation, which had been due to end at midnight on Wednesday 26th July, was subsequently extended by five weeks through to Friday 1st September.
Here is the link:
Please then click first “on their website” and then on “station information document” to read full information as it relates to our 3 Streatham stations.
For your ease of reference, the proposed changes by GTR in relation to the current hours of operation of the ticket offices at our 3 Streatham stations versus the proposed replacement ticket assistance hours for our 3 Streatham stations are as follows:
Current ticket office hours for the 3 Streatham stations:
Name of station | Weekdays | Saturdays | Sundays |
Streatham | 06.20 – 19.45 | 06.45 - 20.10 | 07.45 - 16.20 |
Streatham Common | 06.15 - 20.00 | 06.40 - 21.00 | 08.15 - 17.45 |
Streatham Hill | 06.10 - 20.00 | 06.40 - 20.00 | 08.10 - 16.45 |
Proposed ticket assistance hours for the 3 Streatham stations:
Name of station | Weekdays | Saturdays | Sundays |
Streatham | 05.30 - 00.30 | 05.35 - 01.00 | 06.30 - 00.00 |
Streatham Common | 05.30 - 00.35 | 05.35 - 01.00 | 05.15 - 00.41 |
Streatham Hill | 05.30 - 00.45 | 05.30 - 01.10 | 06.45 - 00.30 |
On the back of this extended consultation period, Emma Elliott and I have arranged an online Streatham Action Transport group meeting to discuss GTR’s proposals.
Details of this online meeting are as follows:
Date: Tuesday 22nd August
Time: 19:00 – 20:30
Venue: online via Zoom
I am pleased to say that at least 2 representatives from GTR, Paul Codd and Martin Darby from the stakeholder engagement team, will be attending this meeting. They will make a brief 10-minute presentation and then be on hand to answer questions from those attending the Zoom meeting.
Given the fact that accessibility issues comprise such a key part in considering these proposals, I am pleased to say that our online meeting will also be attended by Baroness Grey-Thompson, a House of Lords cross-bencher, whose views on these proposed ticket office closures around the country have been prominent. I should like to thank one of Streatham’s strongest advocates on accessibility issues at our stations, Sam Jennings, for having secured Baroness Grey-Thompson’s commitment to join the meeting.
If you have not attended a Streatham Action Transport group meeting at any point over the past year, then you will not automatically receive the Zoom link for this meeting. If you would like to join the meeting, on the basis that you use one or more of our three Streatham stations on either a regular or irregular basis, then you will be very welcome.
Please email me at vicechair@streathamaction.org.uk if you would like to attend, making it clear in your email that you are local to our area and that one or more of our stations is your regular station of choice for starting your journey.
Some background information from GTR on reasons for closing Streatham stations’ ticket offices
The rail industry body, the Rail Delivery Group says that only 12% of tickets are currently sold at station kiosks on average, compared with 85% in 1995, as a consequence of passengers buying more tickets either online or at machines.
The closure of the ticket offices at each of the three Streatham stations will enable staff to operate from the station concourses and assist customers with a number of duties, including assisting with use of the ticket machines, providing travel advice and providing additional assistance from an accessibility perspective.
As can be seen from the above tables shown at the bottom of page 1 and at the top of page 2, it is proposed that concourse staff will be on hand for the whole of the time that each of our 3 Streatham stations are open, ie from around 05.30hrs through until after midnight 7 days per week. This would, therefore, provide greater concourse presence than currently, providing that current ticket office staff are redeployed to these roles.
Some background information from an accessibility perspective
Whilst GTR clearly wishes for us to focus our attention upon the amount of usage that our three stations’ ticket offices actually encounter – please see the attached appendix for further information on that aspect – accessibility arguments extend well beyond that and with a key focus being highlighted on the following issues:
● If a ticket office closes, then the statutory duty for staff at that station is gone;
● If a ticket office closes, then the current Turn Up And Go (TUAG) arrangements are also gone, effectively meaning that disabled people may thereby lose the right to use trains in the same way as non-disabled people;
● Over the past 2 years, wheelchair users have been strongly encouraged to book their tickets through an app, which doesn’t always work;
● Ticket machines are hard to use for wheelchair users, as you can’t always see either the screen or the card reader.
Some background information from the perspective of trade unions
Key concerns that have been most prominent from the rail unions over the course of discussions on this issue are as follows:
Concerns that train operators will issue statutory staff redundancy notices, thereby leading rail unions to question train operators’ wishes to make station staff more visible and customer facing;
As accessibility advocates are emphasising, if ticket offices are closed then that removes all regulation of station staffing under Schedule 17 arrangements, which may thereby lead to a reduction in station staffing.
Conclusion and code of conduct of the Zoom meeting
Clearly, this whole issue is one that is highly contentious, not just for Streatham, but across the whole country.
On behalf of Streatham Action’s Transport group, Emma Elliott and I are pleased to have secured the commitment from two GTR representatives to attend this upcoming Zoom meeting. The fact that we also have the commitment of two leading accessibility advocates to join the meeting - one more nationally focussed and the other more locally focussed - will ensure that we have questions for GTR to answer surrounding the key aspect of accessibility issues. An agenda for the meeting will also accompany this updated information document on our Streatham Action website by Monday 21st August at the latest.
As ever, with any Streatham Action group meeting, we shall utilise our existing code of conduct. If anyone steps out of line with that code of conduct, which will be read out at the start of the meeting, then they will be warned once, before then being muted for the rest of the meeting if in further breach of that code of conduct.
I hope that many people will wish to join this Zoom meeting and will find it both informative and helpful, in advance of responding to the consultation by Friday 1st September.
Neil Salt
Chair, Streatham Action Transport group 18th August 2023
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