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First Capital to cut ticket office staff at 28 stations
Dick Murray, Transport Editor12 Jan 2009
ONE of London's biggest commuter rail companies is planning to cut ticket office staff in the evenings and weekends to save money.
First Capital Connect wants to reduce ticket office opening times at 28 busy stations and replace staff with machines.
Today unions and a rail watchdog warned passengers would be left fearing for their safety- and could end up paying more for tickets.
The stations would include Elephant and Castle, Harringay, Hornsey, Luton Airport Parkway, New Southgate, Stevenage and Tooting.
FCC, which runs commuter services from King's Cross and on the former Thameslink line, is owned by transport giant First Group, which made interim operating profits of £48.3 million in the six months to 30 September last year.
Bob Crow, leader of the RMT, largest of the rail unions, said: "These cuts would see some stations lose their ticket offices entirely at the weekend and leave stations inadequately staffed at weekends and in the evening. That can only make passengers feel less secure."
He said the cuts would mean a total reduction of 800 hours a week in opening hours and the loss of up to 22 jobs.
Passenger fears over unstaffed stations have been highlighted by the Evening Standard's Safer Stations campaign, launched in 2006 after the murder of Tom ap Rhys Pryce as he left the unmanned Silverlink station at Kensal Green.
Despite calls for stations to be staffed until the last train runs, rail operators are moving in the opposite direction.
South West Trains, which runs services into Waterloo, plans to reduce opening hours at 114 ticket offices to save cash. Its parent company, Stagecoach, recorded a 25 per cent increase in its £31.7 million operating profits for the six months ending 31 October.
A government decision on whether to allow the SWT cuts is expected shortly.
The RMT today launched a campaign among passengers and MPs to halt the cuts. The union urged travellers to lodge objections with Passenger Focus, the national rail watchdog, by 3 February.
A watchdog spokesman said it opposed any plans to reduce ticket office opening hours. "Passengers tell us they want to see staff at stations for advice and assistance on ticket sales," he said.
Passengers preferred to use ticket offices even when machines were available, he added. Those unfamiliar with the machines could choose the wrong ticket and be charged a penalty fare.
An FCC spokesman said ticket machines now account for a third of sales "and are preferred by increasing numbers of customers". He said 18 "station roles" would go but there would be no compulsory redundancies.
Reader views (20)
If First Capital Connect cut back on their ticket offices the following problems will happen
1/ Machines breaking down - cusromers will have no ticket buying facilities, and with stations that only have ticket office staff it could take awhile for the message to get passed on to revenue protection staff.
2/ Ticket machines do no sell extension tickets - customers will either have to buy a brand new ticket (costing them more money) or try negotiating with revenue staff
3/ Ticket machines do not sell promotional/offer tickets
4/ you cannot renew your season ticket of 3 months, 6 months or yearly from a machine - this means you will only be able to do this online
5/ many customers do not understand how to work a ticket machine
6/ If a ticket machine eats your money and does not dispense a ticket, the only people that can help you, are ticket office staff, station supervisor or station manager as these are the only people with the key to the machine. Supervisors and managers are often not avaliable at small stations
7/ ticket machines are unable to provide customers with information (for example train times or help plan a customers journey)
8/ If ticket office staff are unavaliable at the small stations, who can assist disabled customers?
- Anon, London, 02/02/2009 17:30
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I am delighted to note my dissatisfaction with first capital connect is shared - the 6% to 11% fare increases alone a shocking way to start off 2009, but what with the continued attempts to cut service and increase profits - shocking that this is allowed while inflation and interest rates are so low, VAT cut, tax payer supporting banks... and what does first group do with its record breaking profits? invests in north american bus companies! lots of information if you do a search for 'first crapital connect'. this has to stop - is the government/DfT totally in blind to the impact these franchise holders have on honest, hardworking members of the public who are merely trying to get to work and home again?!
- Anthony Gorman, St Albans, London, 14/01/2009 08:41
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I am amazed at the comments about station staff at St Albans. I have commuted from that station 5 days a week for the past 12 years and don't think I have ever had cause to speak to a member of staff other than to buy my ticket or ask to be let through gates, etc. It does make me wonder if these complainers are some of the aggressive stress bunnies you sometimes see ranting and raving in a thoroughly rude and unacceptable manner at station staff. And no, before anyone wonders, I do not work for First Capital Connect or any other public transportation network, I just get a little tired of having to endure the bad manners of those around me.
- Lynn J., St Albans, 13/01/2009 15:49
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Mark, St Albans,
Yes I agree, you pay too much for travel that is often overcrowded, unreliable, and not vey clean, just to take you points in order, wouldn't you sit in a nice warm office if it's freezing on a platform? That aside, with all the work going on at Farringdon at the moment, the staff there have a lot to contend with and are by and large doing a good job, it must be very frustrating for them to deal with some passengers who don't want to rely on the PA announcements or the CIS displays for information, (these same people must be the one's who ignore the warning signs not to stand on the platorms where the new bridge construction has started due to the narrow platform) You pay FCC to get you too and from your destination, FCC are a Train Operating Company (TOC),and as such are responsible for a number of stations and trains on their network, nothing else! it is Network Rail that are responsible for the infrastructure (Signals and Track), If you got on a bus that was delayed by roadworks or an accident ,would you blame the Bus Company? In FCC's defense, you must be well aware of the projects now started to ease the travelling experience of people such as yourself, work has started on extending stations to accept the new 12 car services that start later this year using brand new rolling stock, I'm not defending the recent fare rises, hopefully some of this will go to improving the service you get not just from FCC,but from Network Rail as well.
- Liberaler Thinker, London UK, 13/01/2009 13:51
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I doubt if anyone will notice that there isn't any staff.
- Triffidqueen, Desk in London, 13/01/2009 11:38
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FCC are also planning to close a window at Enfield Chase. I've never had any problems with the staff here, always polite and helpful. I'd much rather get served by a human than machine!
- Sarah, Enfield, 13/01/2009 10:53
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They closed Flitwich station over Cristmas with the excuse that all their staff were ill. The ticket machine was not working. Perhaps they were testing our reactions to no staff.
- Gary, Bedfordshire, 12/01/2009 21:52
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How can First Capital Connect even consider cutting back on their staffing? They provide a dreadful service for St. Albans commuters. They ignore customer complaints and generally treat their passengers with contempt. To think that this company makes a profit from providing such misery for commuters makes me sick. My annual season ticket has gone up by 8.2% from last year which is clearly a joke. First Capital Connect need to wake up and provide a service that matches the ridiculously high fares that they charge.
- Paul, St. Albans, 12/01/2009 21:17
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My experience of FCC staff is that those who are based at a station (and therefore do get to recognise their customers) are usually reasonably polite. The problem comes with the "revenue protection officiers" who seem to be moved around the network at random and do seem to have a particularly officious attitude.
It's interesting that the are planning to get rid of staff at Luton Airport Parkway. This is the type of place where customer service is vitally important as you get people arriving who are not familiar with the rail network.
- Keith, London, 12/01/2009 16:21
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Very cross about this. 2009 kicked off with 7.5% fare increase on my weekly ticket, the 6 machines in st albans station are now 2, the cash only window is gone, it's apalling. what can we do about it? nothing. first crapital connect more-like.
- Alison Radfor, St Albans, uk, 12/01/2009 15:37
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Liberaler Thinker,
I'm not paying 4 grand+ a year to be better informed than the company I employ to take me to work and back. The staff in Farringdon are not over worked in any way shape or form and sit in their nice warm office drinking coffee while their wage payers freeze on the platform.
Saying that 'Signal Problems' is a perfectly valid reponse just shows how out of touch you are with the paying public and just shows arrogance on your part.
If you pay for a service and it constantly is not working to your satisfaction and you get fobbed off by the exact same excuse week are week, wouldn't you be annoyed?
If I did my job that badly I'd be soon out the door.
If FCC has no control over 'Signal Problems' then sack them and get someone in who has control over it or drop fares to reflect the level of service.
Its no good saying its RailTracks issue because you take my money and you provide my service, so don't give me excuses, give me what I'm paying through the nose for....
- Mark, st albans, 12/01/2009 15:35
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Rose, St Albans is on the list which according to the RMT is as follows: Alexandra Palace, Bedford, Blackfriars, Cuffley, Drayton Park (to be closed completely), Elephant and Castle, Gordon Hill, Harlington, Harringay, Haydons Road, Hendon, Hertford North, Hornsey, Knebworth, Loughborough Junction, Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, Meldreth, Mill Hill Broadway, New Barnet, New Southgate, Oakleigh Park, Palmers Green, St Albans, Stevenage, Tooting, Welwyn North and Winchmore Hill.
- Edvid, Luton, UK, 12/01/2009 15:10
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I'd be interested in seeing the full list of stations selected for this. Has anyone else noticed that the stations mentioned are all in the rougher areas? I wonder if the staff were given the choice of which stations they wouldn't operate in. No mention of taking staff away from nice places like St Albans or Welwyn Garden City. I visit St Albans regularly and the station usually looks like a social club for ticket staff there are that many of them.
- Rose, Tooting, 12/01/2009 14:13
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While I agree the level of fare rises are hard to justify against a fall in service standards on FCC, I (as an employee) must point out some errors in some of the posts so far, Mark, communication in the rail industry has always been very poor, often it is the customers that are better informed than the staff on stations invariably through the media or by fellow passengers, this combined with the often overworked and short staffed stations leaves staff with little time to deal with passenger queries and is often in detriment to doing the job that they are paid to do, dispatching trains, If you have received comments that 'signal problems' are the cause of delays or cancellations, then that is perfectly valid, infrastructure problems of any sort are beyond FCC's control, John, Guards? It is my belief that FCC (GN) operate Driver Only Operated trains in the Hertford area, Guards are well and truely (alas) a thing of the past. (another 'cost cutting' excercise from long ago)
- Liberaler Thinker, London UK, 12/01/2009 13:38
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First Capital Connect staff are astonishingly rude. As pointed out, why cut ticket offices when groups of staff are standing around doing nothing every day at King's Cross and Hatfield? Ask one a question and they reply "what?" as if you're interrupting *their* conversation, without basic courtesies, let alone "yes sir, how can I help?". And why so many ticket inspectors when there are barriers everywhere? They could start by running trains on time consistently. Appalling. Let's hope the recession makes staff like these be less arrogant and more grateful for the jobs they apparently think are beneath them. Same goes for retail staff who chat to each other while serving customers and prioritise their colleagues in queues (take note M&S - if you want to charge a premium in any industry in these times you better start delivering quality service). And spare us the patronising 'customer communications' about how management is listening and the service improving. It isn't. Get the rail industry management to get off their fat cat proverbials - that includes you Bob Crowe
- Rob The Herts Chugger, herts to london, 12/01/2009 13:06
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The ticket machines are hardly ever working so how does the company suggest customers buy tickets if there are no staff available? its all about profit these days no such thing as customer service or safety
- Mike, portsmouth, 12/01/2009 12:55
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Considering that the rail industry has pushed up its prioes and has an absolute monopoly then why the need to cut services? Where is the money being lost?
Also what happens if there is an accident in a station unmanned, and no one is there to help? I can see a slew of corporate manslaughter charges and a wave of legal action if this goes ahead.
- Sebastian, Brent, 12/01/2009 12:30
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I agree, First Captial connect are total rubbish, their staff are rude, ill informed and they act like they couldn't give a toss about the people who pay their wages.
They seem to think that 'Signal Problems' is a valid answer to why the service is so bad. When enquiring further I was told that it was network rails responsibility and nothing to do with them as they only looked after trains...
My ticket has gone up £350+ this year and in 11 journeys so far there have been 4 delays and 2 cancellations.
The staff at farringdon are truly terrible and need to be replaced.
I will go as far as saying that I hate this company and hope they will be replaced when their licence comes up for renewal...
- Mark, st albans, 12/01/2009 12:26
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At my local station we have an overworked bloke in the ticket office and - more often than not - one or two guards sitting around reading the paper and muttering under their breath. A lovely sight to behold now my tickets costs over £2100 (especially given the ticket office guy suggested it was "as rip off" when I handed over my money!).
Sorry Mr Crow but these staff dont make me feel more secure, just poorer!
- John Entwistle, Hertford, 12/01/2009 12:23
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They may as well there staff are pretty useless and rude.
So no staff maybe better
- Liberal Thinker, UK, 12/01/2009 11:00
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