Today is the final day for the general public to have their say about the proposed changes to railway ticket offices. To call them ‘changes’ is a little deceptive. The plan is to close almost all of them. The RMT union is campaigning to keep them all open, and regularly post photos of long queues at busy ticket offices. Which is also a little deceptive, because I know from experience that you don’t a queue at most ticket offices. The government argue that passengers buy their tickets online and from machines these days, with only one in eight tickets now bought in ticket offices. Which ignores the facts that that remains a huge number of tickets and that ticket offices also perform many tasks that can’t be done online, or that are more quickly and easily done at a ticket office.
It’s also worth pointing out that the entire ticketing system is decrepit, with more than a million different possible fares, countless cheats and loopholes and a network of ancient ticket machines which are frankly not fit for purpose.
The RMT argue that closing ticket offices will turn stations into muggers paradises, which ignores the government pledge to keep staff at all manned stations. It also ignores the fact that few ticket office staff are likely to venture from the safety of their office to intervene in a mugging. Another point made by the RMT is that this will disadvantage disabled customers. I’m not quite sure how that is the case. Ticket office staff do not provide assistance to disabled customers. Indeed, the new multi skilled role would seem to be a huge improvement in that regard.
It’s also worth pointing out that the entire ticketing system is decrepit, with more than a million different possible fares, countless cheats and loopholes and a network of ancient ticket machines which are frankly not fit for purpose. Upgrades to these really needs to be in place before moving on to ticket offices. So. Well. What should we make of all this? Would you believe me if I said that I think they’re all completely mad? Unions and the government. It is, after all, the government that is pushing this idealogical change.
I worked as a relief ticket office clerk for just shy of eight years, putting in shifts on a stretch of line with nineteen different stations. Three of them were already unstaffed and have never had a ticket office. A further six are only open for about four hours in the morning. And if this were my business, I’d have shut all six some time ago. It is pointless staffing them with any type of employee. At best, I’d sell half a dozen tickets in a shift at any one of them. Sometimes I’d sell none. Disabled customers? Half of them are not even accessible stations. There is no reasonable need to have these stations permanently manned.
Three more stations have a full time single shift, typically open for seven hours each morning. I’d close all those ticket offices too, but retain staffing at the same levels, employing multi skilled staff to help with both ticketing and other station duties. There are seven further stations, all larger hubs, which operate morning and evening shifts. I’d axe all the evening shifts. They are unnecessary. But I’d keep the ticket offices open for the morning shift. There is still substantial demand at these busier stations.
So, in summary, I’d close nine ticket offices and completely remove staff from six of them. I’d reduce staffing at seven more. And I’d do all this on the basis of assessing the need for staffing on a station by station basis rather that apply an all or nothing idealogical policy. I’d wager that most lines across the country could see similar, sensible reductions in staffing. But I am absolutely certain that whatever comes out of the consolation, a rational approach with the best interests of both customers and staff will not feature very highly.
On the plus side, I managed to get a new gig on the railways earlier this year. I love working on the railways. It’s a great industry and the strong unionisation brings genuine benefits. Plus, there’s the free/subsidised travel. Not just in the UK, but in Europe too.
The Mexile 
With the mugging: It is not so much the stepping up and you might be surprised on that count, but the live witness aspect of having a person on site. Here in the US, the tort people would be cashing in on the liability end of things.
As a former union official, we had a basic rule, fedicarey in nature, that the union never willingly gave up work. Automation was a fact of life, if it came with serious investment by capital, we were good with giving our work to machines because it was the way of our times. We went from some 790 union workers in 1977 to 125 in 2008 when I retired but were producing much more steel in a far far finer quality than when I started. And through bargaining, we had taken over about a third of the management’s work through technological improvements in the logistics of our manufacturing process .
On the political aspect: I figure the Tories are toast at the next general election… at about the time the ‘reforms’ will be bearing fruit. The ball will be in Labor’s court. We’ll see.
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There have been a few incidents over the last eight years, and there’s been a couple of times that a staff member has put themselves about. But mostly not. And for convictions, it’s the CCTV footage that is key, not staff testimony. But as I say, most of these stations don’t have staff in peak mugging hours anyway. Crooks tend to be a late night lot, rather than dawn risers.
The Tories are toast, at best. A wipeout, or close to it, is not off the cards. We can hope…
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The unions will fight tooth and nail even if it doesn’t make sense rather than lose members. The company may just go the attrition route as many of the older staff will probably not be employable elsewhere with similar pay. A certain number may accept redundancy and payouts but you will still have the holdouts, it’s normal.
As you say a certain number of the ticket booths will be closed especially those loosing money. Maybe they will be converted to cafés or deli’s or tobacconist on the run.
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I think it’s unlikely any ticket office clerks on my TOC will face compulsory redundancy. A few may take the voluntary option. A few who have been recruited in the last year are on temp contracts – they may be let go. Otherwise, any further reduction in manpower will probably be left for natural attrition to do its job.
Ironically, a day or two after I published this, news broke that there might be a rethink on how the TOCs/govt proceed. They may yet look at this on a station by station basis….
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