A few days ago I got an email from public transport watchdog London TravelWatch to say that they had managed to persuade First Capital Connect to reduce their proposals to cut ticket office hours at local stations. Our MP Lynne Featherstone helped organise a big campaign against the cuts, which I mentioned in a previous post. I also proposed a motion condemning the cuts to a full meeting of Haringey Council, which was passed with cross-party support (post here).
First Capital Connect had proposed to cut the ticket office weekday opening hours by almost 4 hours so it would close at 10.30am – but now it will only bve reduced by 1 hour 30 mins to close at 12.45pm. Unfortunately, the long term plan remains to stop the ticket office opening at all on a Saturday – but TravelWatch have insisted on an 8 week trial period to see if the ticket machines cope with the demand.
Similar changes have been made to the proposed office hour cuts at Hornsey Station. Full details of the revised proposals are here.
Rather than cuts, I’d like to see our stations more visibly staffed to make passengers feel more secure. But I’m really pleased that local residents concerns have been listened to – and the office hour cuts have been reduced.