LU has now announced its timetable for the closure of ticket offices throughout 2015. You can view the schedule here.
The company seems determined to streamroller ahead with its closures plan, despite a survey from London TravelWatch, the independent travel watchdog for TfL, clearly showing that passengers don't want ticket offices to close.
TravelWatch says that its wider research, from 2013, "clearly demonstrated the strong feeling that passengers place significant value on the presence of ticket offices". It also says that the data from its 2014 survey "indicates that ticket offices are more used by minority groups, and the loss of ticket offices could present a significant barrier to travel for the elderly and those who consider themselves to have disabilities in particular. Some passengers have also commented that they experience considerable difficulty in using ticket machines, especially if they have learning difficulties or dyslexia and the needs of these passengers will have to be further considered."
It says that ticket office closures must not be irreversible: "It must be easy for the system to be flexible. Whether a specific event causes significant extra demand, such as at Tower Hill for the poppy display, or a more long-term change such as Crossrail opening at Farringdon, London Underground must retain the capacity to increase both staffing and potentially restore a fixed location for information and ticket purchasing. The permanent conversion of ticket office facilities to retail outlets should not be something that is done in the near term. If the situation is that ticket offices are required at some point in the future then there must be an easy way to return to stations having these facilities."
TravelWatch's report on its findings can be found online here.
Despite clear public opposition, and TravelWatch's recommendation not to use ticket office space for private retail outlets, London Underground appears determined to blunder on. Clearly, it will take more than survey results to shift them.
The survey itself casts serious doubt on TravelWatch's supposed "independence". Why conduct the survey and release the results months after LU have apparently made their decision? It's almost as if TravelWatch never imagined their survey would have any impact on LU's decision...
The Hands Off London Transport coalition is gearing up for more action in protest as ticket office closures and staffing cuts. As RMT on London Underground considers industrial action to win the reinstatement of sacked union members, we also need to discuss gearing up for more action against "Fit for the Future".