TfL Confirms Drastic Cuts for Overground Ticket Offices
Opening hours slashed from February at Olympia, Shepherd's Bush and Imperial Wharf
TfL has confirmed that opening hours will be dramatically slashed from next month at many Overground ticket offices, including local stations Shepherd's Bush, Kensington Olympia and Imperial Wharf in Fulham.
The closures, which were first revealed by the RMT Union in October, will see some offices opening only during rush hour from Monday to Friday.
TfL's list of stations affected shows that from 6 February, the ticket office at the very busy Shepherd's Bush station will be open from 7.30am till 10am and then from 1.30pm till 6.30pm on weekdays, from 9.15am till 2.45pm on Saturdays and just one hour on Sundays, from 10.15am till 11.15am.
Kensington Olympia's ticket office will only be open during weekday morning rush hours, from 7.30am till 10am.
The office at Imperial Wharf on Fulham's riverside will be open daily, from 7.30am till midday and 4.15pm till 6.15pm on weekdays, 9.30am till 2pm on Saturdays and 10am till 12.30pm on Sundays.
In October, the RMT said these changes mean that Kensington Olympia will be hit by a cut of 84% . Shepherd's Bush station will suffer a 45% loss and Imperial Wharf a 43% cut. The office at our borough's other station, West Brompton, has already closed.
The cuts come as the Overground expands its service to five trains per hour. You can find new timetables for our local servicehereand further information, including live departureshere.
TfL's announcement said that some London Overground ticket offices will start to change over the next few weeks to better match the times customers use them.
TfL claims these changes reflect the way customers now pay for their travel as many people choose to use contactless payments and mobile devices instead of paper tickets.
Currently fewer than two per cent of London Overground journeys involve a ticket sale from a London Overground ticket office, with sales through ticket offices having reduced by a million compared with 2016. With this significant reduction in office-based ticket sales, it had been proposed that ticket offices at many stations on the London Overground network would have permanently closed.
However, the Mayor and TfL say they listened to concerns raised by the trade unions, and worked with Arriva Rail London, the operator of London Overground, who conducted a station-by-station review of the network, including consulting its staff for their views. Following this, a decision was taken to keep ticket offices staffed during those times of day when customers need them most.
For many of the busiest stations across the network, including Willesden Junction, there will be no changes to the operating hours of ticket offices.
TfL adds that safety and security remain the top priority, with all stations continuing to be staffed from 15 minutes before the first train of the day until 15 minutes after the last - a continuing commitment that makes London Overground stations stand out on the national rail network.
Staff will continue to be available at all London Overground stations to provide customers with any help and assistance needed, including journey planning and ticketing.
Rory O'Neill, TfL's General Manager for London Overground, said: "The way customers want to pay for their train fares is changing with fewer visiting a ticket office at the start of their journey. These planned changes will help ensure the ticket offices are available when customers need them.
" We are working to modernise London Overground to meet changing customer needs and are investing in new technology including the latest ticket vending machines to give our customers a greater range of options when using our services."
The current technology means that 99% of all sales at London Overground ticket offices can be made through a ticket vending machine. Of those customers who currently choose to buy a ticket at a London Overground station, 80% do so through a ticket vending machine.
Further changes are planned to improve the service with new world-leading video ticket machine technology currently being trialled at a number of stations.
The new technology connects customers by video link to a member of staff who can help guide them through ticket purchasing and provide other assistance if needed.
If the trials prove popular with customers, this technology could be expanded to be a feature of ticket machines at London Overground stations across the capital.
January 9, 2020