Ruth Cadbury Says Ticket Office Closures Part of 'Managed Decline'

Consultation extended for five weeks due to lack of accessible forms

Chiswick station would lose its ticket office

July 27, 2023

Ruth Cadbury has written to South Western Railways (SWR) to express her concerns about proposals to close local ticket offices.

The Brentford & Isleworth MP describes the planned new arrangements, which will see ticket offices shut at Chiswick and Brentford as well as at London Waterloo, as part of a ‘managed decline’ of the railway system.

Her letter was sent as it was announced that the consultation into the closures, which was due to end this Wednesday (26 July), has been extended until 1 September due to a lack of accessible forms being available for people to respond.

In her letter Ms Cadbury said the proposed cuts in staffing hours at Brentford, Chiswick and Hounslow would affect many passengers especially those who travel by train occasionally, are disabled or are not able to buy tickets on-line.

Speaking in full about these planned closures she said, ‘‘I know from listening to people locally that they are rightly concerned and worried about the impact that these changes will have. So many people rely on the trains to get to work, to see family and friends and to go into London to shop, eat and relax. These changes will have a huge impact on rail passengers, especially those who need extra support and assistance to buy tickets, to get timetable information and to get on and off the train.

“Hounslow and Chiswick stations will have no staffing at all on Mondays, and Brentford on Fridays. Meanwhile staffing at Hounslow is to be cut by almost four hours a day. My worry is that these proposals are the thin end of the wedge and we could see no staffing at stations apart from the main terminals.

“These cuts to staffing at local stations could pose a risk to passenger safety and also impact on the job security of station staff, many of whom worked extremely hard throughout the pandemic to keep our trains running and passengers supported. Over the past two years rail passengers have experienced a poor service from South Western Rail with longer waits, more cancellations and overcrowded trains. With the Government now controlling all aspects of rail funding, I suspect this is yet another step towards the managed decline of our railways.

“I will continue to campaign locally to ensure that public transport is accessible and available to all. ’’

Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of London TravelWatch, said, “We’ve received more than 170,000 comments already. This feedback is currently being logged and reviewed alongside individual train operator proposals for their stations. It is important that a diverse range of views from all parts of the community are heard in this consultation.”

Proposed Changes for Selected Stations

You can email your response to: swr.consultation@londontravelwatch.org.uk

Or write to:

Freepost RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ
London TravelWatch
PO Box 5594
Southend-on-Sea
SS1 9PZ