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Ticket office cuts 'break the rules'
Dick Murray10.02.09
Passengers fighting plans by First Capital Connect to axe opening hours at 47 ticket offices along busy commuter routes today received a boost from the rail watchdog.
London TravelWatch will consider a report that reveals 25 station cutbacks do not meet closure rules laid down by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon.
Last month he largely repelled plans by South West Trains to reduce ticket office opening hours at 114 stations on its lines out of Waterloo station.
He rejected cuts at offices that sold at least 12 tickets an hour or one ticket every five minutes.
The report indicates he would reject First Capital Connect's plans at 25 stations on the Thameslink and Stevenage to Kings Cross lines if he applied the same rules.Stations facing cuts include Blackfriars, Finsbury Park, Hendon, Stevenage and Knebworth.
The cuts would leave stations unstaffed for longer periods of the day - including late at night and weekends.
Passenger fears over unstaffed stations have been highlighted by the Evening Standard's Safer Stations campaign.
This was launched in 2006 after the murder of 31-year-old lawyer Tom ap Rhys Pryce as he left the unmanned Silverlink station at Kensal Green.
Survey after survey has revealed that passengers want to see more staff at stations not fewer.
First Capital Connect wants to reduce opening hours to save money. The company 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.
