Monday, July 26, 2010

SOUTH WEST TRAINS-TICKET OFFICES

Circular No. NP/138/10/MC

26th July 2010


TO: ALL BRANCHES, REGIONAL ORGANISERS, REGIONAL COUNCILS, & COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES.



Dear Colleagues,

South West Trains Ticket Offices

Further to my last circular which highlighted the campaign your Union was waging in defense of South West Trains ticket office opening hours, your Union continues to fight against the proposed cuts and has advised South West Trains that we do not accept their revised proposals. We are still awaiting the final outcomes of the formal complaints lodged by both Passenger Focus and Travelwatch and will continue to mount a high profile campaign.

According to a report released on 20th July 2010, Passenger Focus said people risked missing their train because they would rather queue than buy a ticket from a machine.

Queues at ticket offices often exceeded the industry requirement of five minutes during peak hours, with the worst stations found to be Guildford in Surrey, Winchester and Basingstoke. At these stations at least a third of queues at the ticket office were longer than recommended by the industry standard, despite ticket machines standing empty. Researchers found that passengers were more likely to face queues at off-peak times.

I will keep you informed of any developments in regards to this campaign.

Yours sincerely,



Bob Crow

General Secretary

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