'Train Station Ticket Offices to Close'

Union claims report signals end of staffing at local stations

A transport union is claiming that several local stations are to be left without ticket offices as the result of recommendations made by a Government report.

The report by Sir Roy McNulty is proposing changes which he says will save £1 billion across the national network.

According to the Transport Salaried Staffs Association this means that 675 ticket offices across the country will be closed including local stations such as Chiswick, South Acton, Brentford, Acton Mainline, West Ealing and Hanwell.

Nationally one in four ticket offices could be closed with the loss of 1,000 jobs.

The TSSA union leader Gerry Doherty said: "Stations will be left unsafe purely to save money - passengers, particularly women, will fear arriving at stations in the dark with nobody to turn to if they need help."

There is also concern that costs for passenger could rise even further as a result of the change as the cheapest combination of tickets is not always available from vending machines.

A spokesperson for South West Trains, who operate the services at Chiswick and Brentford station said: "At the moment these are just the results of a government report, there are no concrete plans for any changes to be made to our stations."

September 10, 2011