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Ticket office hours cut as rail firm struggles to pay £1.4bn franchise
Dick Murray16 Feb 2009
National Express is to reduce ticket office opening hours on the East Coast Main Line to save cash.
King's Cross, one of the most heavily used stations in London, is among those to be affected.
The train and coach giant is also in talks with a Singapore company about a possible sale of its London bus operation raising fears it is undertaking major cost-cutting in response to the credit crunch.
The news comes as other train companies learn in a new report today that passenger numbers could fall for three years after the recession bottoms out.
The cutbacks by National Express have raised concerns that the company is seeking ways to pay down a £1.4 billion fee to the Government for the East Coast franchise, which runs until 2015.
Previous operator GNER, owned by Bermuda-based Sea Containers, was forced to hand back the franchise two years ago because of difficulties with its own £1.3 billion fee.
The cutbacks would see National Express reduce ticket office opening times at 12 key stations by 100 hours a week.
In addition to King's Cross, these would include Peterborough, Grantham, Durham, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
The company last month announced 400 job cuts on the East Coast Main Line, and 350 from other train operations.
Gerry Doherty, leader of the TSSA transport union, said: "This is death by a thousand cuts.
"First they cut jobs, then they close most of their restaurant cars, then they start rationing biscuits and water to their first-class passengers."
He continued: "Now they are cutting back on ticket offices and forcing passengers to buy more expensive tickets from machines.
"All these cuts are being made so National Express can pay the Government its £1.4 billion premium for the franchise."
Mr Doherty said if the company cannot provide "a decent long-distance service" it "should simply hand back the keys".
The King's Cross travel centre currently operates around the clock seven days a week. Under the proposed cuts, it would open at 5am and close at 11pm. Late-night travellers would be forced to use ticket machines.
National Express group chief executive Richard Bowker originally said it would offer "easier ways to purchase tickets and an updated catering offer".
Other rail companies - including South West Trains and First Capital Connect - are also planning to reduce ticket office opening hours to save cash. This will leave stations with fewer or no staff for longer periods, including at night and weekends.
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 after he left an unmanned station at Kensal Green.
Surveys show that passengers want more staff at stations, not fewer. Union bosses say passengers feel safer on a station late at night "with a well-lit ticket office and with visible staff".
Comfort DelGro, the world's second largest transport company, is understood to have approached National Express with regard to the sale of its London bus operations.
These include a number of routes running into the centre of the capital. Although talks have reportedly stopped in recent weeks, they could be revived if National Express decides to cut costs further.
Research by the Left Economics Advisory Panel - commissioned by the RMT, largest of the rail unions - studied the effects of previous recessions on passenger use of the railways.
It found that when the economy went into recession in the early Nineties, rail passenger use also declined.
Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: "During the recession in the early Nineties passenger numbers fell for three years after the economy reached its lowest point, which suggests the worst is yet to come for our railways this time round as well.
"The difference is this time we have private operators that have already squeezed tens of millions out of the railways."
Reader views (12)
Why do people put up with such a rip-off.
I was recently in Brussels going to Paris. Owing to a misunderstanding I realised that my ticket was fror the 07.43 and not the 08.43. I had only paid 15 EURO for the ticket but the guard wanted me to buy another one at 90 EUROS. I shouted and screamed, was threatened with the police, kicked the train as the doors closed and stormed off to catch the Eurolines coach at 24 EUROS. You see it doesn't only happen in the UK.
Still at least it would be defendable to pay such high fares if we had decent state-of-the are high-speed lines and trains in the UK. We don't. British passengers should take direct action - blow up bridges and signals, block lines, tie themselves to the track etc to protest at this great rip-off.
- Jules, Paris, France, 16/02/2009 22:48
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John Bloomfield, It does not matter if the service is in public or private hands. The issue is with the way that the(any) government wants the service run. The current government want's to receive large amounts of income from the train compaines hence the 1.4 Billion that First National is to pay.
- Roger, London, 16/02/2009 22:34
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How much more evidence do New Labour mandarins need to justify the full renationalising of public transport ? These firms have been hiking ticket prices whilst cutting services and staff during the supposed boom years, so axiomatically continue the process during recession !
But recession should not so much be seen as an opportunity for them to 'bury bad news' as admit the privatised transport network does not work and should be taken back by the public
- John Bloomfield, Twickenham, 16/02/2009 14:17
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I bought a First Class Advance ticket from Harrogate to King's Cross on the internet. But the ticket office at Harrogate wouldn't issue it as First National had failed to send them a fax. I had to risk a penalty fare on the train to Leeds and then run outside to pick up the ticket from the machine and, you've probably guessed it, by the time I got back the London train was leaving and the platform supervisor literally (and in my opinion deliberately) closed the doors in my face.
I was then treated to a lecture on not leaving enough time for the connection, when I had booked precisely the trains reccomended on First National's own website, and told to buy another ticket at full fare. When I finally got on the train, two hours late and in First Class at full fare, they charged me for sandwiches and coffee and threatened me with the police when I complained about the poor service.
By the way, there is no such thing as a 'complaints' form on First National Express. It's a 'Compliments and comments' form!
For once, I agree with the trade union official quoted above. First National are milking this service (and the passengers) for all they are worth.
- Mike Grant, London, 16/02/2009 13:43
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History repeating itself, and perhaps confirmation that privatisation does not work with a public service.
The rail franchises are no longer as lucrative as they once were.
The intention has always been for the government to make a profit from the railways - hence the 1.4 billion pound fee payable to the treasury.
Interestingly, that is a similiar amount that RBS have paid to their staff in bonuses, funded by the taxpayer bail-out.
- Jim, London, UK, 16/02/2009 13:20
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correct me if I am simplifying things, but surely the railways are largely unaffected by the credit crunch. we still have to use them to get in and out of work and I have seen no let up in the amount of passengers. Therefore revenues must be the same as before the credit crunch. Seems like it is just an excuse to get rid of staff and make a leaner business that makes more money for shareholders regardless of the awful service to the users of the service. There should be an investigation in to this
- Ag, The Village of London, 16/02/2009 13:01
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Why are all politicians in denial about the need to take railways back into public ownership? Private railways have F.A.I.L.E.D. and are set for as big a crash as the banking sector. The only problem is how to avoid creating British Rail Mark 2. Mutual ownership by rail users, the customers, like the old-style building societies? Something has GOT to be done and now. Britain must have a functioning transport network, for goodness' sake, not the current mess.
- Robert C, London, UK, 16/02/2009 12:29
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Excuse me James in London, when is Alistair Darling going to apolgize for what he did to GNER?
- John Polenski, Bekasi, Indonesia, 16/02/2009 12:12
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Last week, I was travelling on a First Great Western train between Bristol and London. I picked up a secondhand copy of the Times from the floor to read. One of the train staff saw me and asked me if I was a "first class customer" and when I said no he told me to put it back!
- Matt Bristol, Bristol England, 16/02/2009 12:06
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Those wishing to make representations on the National Express East Coast proposals for Kings Cross should write to London Travelwatch; for Darlington, Peterborough, Grantham, Durham, Newcastle Edinburgh and the other five affected stations north of Stevenage any representations need to be made to Passenger Focus
- Donald Smith, Palmers Green, London, 16/02/2009 11:54
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What would anyone expect with private companies now running what was a public service!
- John David, London, 16/02/2009 11:38
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When are the Conservatives going to apologise for what they did to the railways?
- James, London, 16/02/2009 10:36
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