Great Northern operator asked to reconsider ticket office proposals

Published: 25 March 2016

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The body that represents public transport users in London is to ask the operator of Great Northern and Thameslink rail services to reconsider its proposed changes to ticket offices, including those at Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill.

The Board of London Travelwatch met on 22nd March to consider Govia Thameslink Railway's proposals, along with a report prepared by the London TravelWatch Secretariat and some 8,000 responses to the consultation from various organisations and individuals, plus several petitions. Following its meeting the Board issued a statement saying that it was not able to support the proposals at the moment and suggesting that GTR should "develop a more considered proposal which could be piloted at a few carefully chosen stations".

great northern logo cropped Some of the issues involved are described in the Board's statement and in the Secretariat's report. They included

reliability of ticket vending machines and the ability to buy all types of ticket at them
exactly how and when the planned station hosts would work and when they would be available, especially in complex stations
the ability to handle cash transactions.

It was noted that in Monday and Tuesday morning peak hours ticket offices at some of the "Model 1" stations sell large numbers of weekly tickets, in excess of the figure of fewer than 12 tickets per hour used to define "Model 1". London TravelWatch consider that proper ticket offices should be in operation at such times. Palmers Green is one of the stations that Govia has assigned to "Model 1".

Further information

An earlier report on Palmers Green Community - to be read in conjunction with the forum comments below it, which include some more detailed information

The statement by the London TravelWatch Board

The Report prepared by the London TravelWatch Secretariat (note that the Board did not fully endorse the recommendations in this report and has instead taken a firmer line with Govia).

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Posts in discussion: Great Northern operator asked to reconsider ticket office proposals

Roger Blows posted a reply

#2075

31 Mar 2016 09:01

Govia has quickly earned the same reputation enjoyed by its predecessor on the Hertford Loop. Weary passengers are regularly punished by cancellations, short trains, overcrowding, late-running, closed waiting rooms and an overall sense that they are a bit of a nuisance. Jam tomorrow in the form of new rolling-stock is no compensation for the current woeful performance which now seems set to include closure of ticket offices. Cancellations from Moorgate are put down to unavailability of staff, whatever that may imply. If Govia treats its staff as it does its passengers, there is little hope for either group. This line is surely a money-spinner with a large captive clientele - if Govia cannot make a go of it, let it get out of the business.

Basil Clarke posted a reply

#2078

01 Apr 2016 01:22

I see that Great Northern performance came in for some stick in Parliament this week - not for the first time.

"We believe our plans to improve staff availability, train reliability and the work we’re doing with Network Rail to reduce the number of signalling and track faults will make a real difference." How many times have we heard that before?

Not mentioned is that Govia (like FCC before them) are unable to provide a full service during school holidays because drivers want to take their days off to be with their kids. They simply haven't got enough drivers despite all the talk of training drivers. I heard somewhere that they've been trying to poach drivers from Abellio (who run the other Cambridge-London line) by paying higher wages - if so, it doesn't seem to have worked.

PGC Webmaster posted a reply

#2081

01 Apr 2016 19:48

London TravelWatch have now published some additional material relating to Govia's proposals for changing arrangements for selling tickets. Follow the links below:

Appendix A - The original letter from Govia outlining their proposals (February 2016)

Appendix B - Updated summary of consultation responses

Appendix C - All correspondence from MPs,AMs, local cllrs,local authorities, @RMTunion & @ThameslinkUsers. These include a letter from Joanne McCartney, Assembly Member for Haringey & Enfield, seeking various assurances. Ms McCartney refers in her letter to a meeting that she held with Govia and says that she continues to object to certain aspects of the proposals, in particular that the full range of tickets will not be available at all stations.

From the point of view of a user of Palmers Green station, service would improve inasmuch as a member of staff would be on the station throughout. However, my interpretation of the proposals is that it would no longer be possible to purchase several useful ticket types - eg tickets starting from other stations, tickets for future dates, tickets with seat reservations or any cut-price Advance tickets, all of which can currently be bought from the station during most of the day on weekdays and for a more restricted period at weekends.

PGC Webmaster posted a reply

#2110

19 Apr 2016 13:11

An online petition to Govia requesting that ticket offices are not closed has so far attracted 13,076 signatures. The petition, on the 38 Degrees website and initiated by Martin Abrams, reads as follows:

TO: GOVIA THAMESLINK RAILWAY LTD

Govia Thameslink Railway the parent company that runs Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern rail services under a 'Mega Franchise' is planning to close almost all ticket offices across the sub-urban network in London and across the South East.

We want them to reverse this decision.

Why is this important?

Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern score consistently badly as train operators with poor performance, reliability, delays and removing staff from public facing roles will only serve to worsen customer satisfaction levels at a time when the company should be doing everything possible to improve them. There is also a risk that ticket office staff will lose their jobs.

It is complete madness to close National Rail Ticket Offices when these poor performing operators also score consistently badly in terms of value for money.

All the evidence suggests that passengers trust and ultimately prefer to buy tickets from ticket offices. Ticket Vending Machines are confusing and still do not offer the cheapest fares or the range of tickets available at ticket offices.

Simplified 'Oyster Style' smart ticketing that has been promised for years to be rolled out across the South East is still a distant dream. These ticket offices closures will cause more passenger misery for the millions of passengers who use these operators everyday.

***UPDATE***
There was a public consultation into the proposals which closed on 13 March 2016 and due to the pressure of our campaign both London Travelwatch and Transport Focus, the passenger watchdogs that coordinated the public consultation, have roundly rejected Govia Thameslink’s proposals to scrap up to 84 ticket offices across London and the South East.

This is tremendous news and just shows what can happen when people come together and fight what are ridiculous proposals. The final and ultimate decision, however, lies with the Department for Transport so the fight goes on.

Please SIGN and SHARE this petition and send a clear message to Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd and Government to KEEP OUR TICKET OFFICES OPEN.

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See also...

Palmers Green station: how step-free access will be provided

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