please empty your brain below
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There might be some disapproval soon when the annual season ticket renewal rush starts and people find that company cheques are no longer handled and that the machines can't handle annual ticket sales. Oh and don't think about buying an Annual Bus and Tram Pass at a tube station. Can't do those at all.
It strikes me as ever so daft to have pulled down the last shutters just before a fares revision and a know surge in sales. There weren't many offices left but a mad dash to close the last ones, including one in the heart of Westminster with all those politicians and civil servants nearby, feels like a mistake. Waiting a few weeks wouldn't have hurt anyone and target dates for these changes have been "flexible" anyway. The fares revision may well pass with nary a glitch and I'll be completely wrong but I wonder if any problems or difficulties will ever reach the public domain?
Having worked to create the initial data sets as stations moved over to new ticket offices and new magnetic ticketing in the 80s and then been responsible for investment in the ticketing system it feels like a lot of that old investment has now been written off and consigned to the dustbin. Obviously times, technology and passenger demands change but I am surprised there wasn't even a small gesture to the passing of a key piece of railway operation into the history books.
PC | 19.12.15 - 7:47 a.m. | #
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What will the ticket offices be used for now? I hear from my Residents' Association that the one at Barons Court will be incorporated into an adjacent shop. Will other ticket offices re-open as small shops?
Christopher Bellew | Homepage | 19.12.15 - 8:03 a.m. | #
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Thanks DG for recording this slightly momentous event. The fact that there was much fuss and talk of strikes and protests earlier on, yet nary a whimper yesterday, is hardly surprising. The time to make a fuss is when there seems to be a prospect of changing the outcome.
But as you indicate, what actually happened was not closure of all ticket offices in London. These days the mental boundary between "tube" and "other trains" is much less obvious than it used to be, what with Oyster and Overground muddying the issue, let alone TfL Rail. So perhaps not a very momentous day for "normal" Londoners?
Malcolm | 19.12.15 - 9:03 a.m. | #
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I happened to arrive at a mainline station yesterday at 0630, before the morning rush had arrived. I needed to get my newly re-issued Senior Railcard added to my Oyster, so it was a good chance to test the new system.
Being early, the roaming man was easy to find. He completed the transaction at a vacant machine very efficiently. But he admitted that the new way of working is 'very stressful' at times. Probably not helped by working 8 days on the trot.
He did all that I needed and was a pleasant chap (like many LU staff), so I wished him well. I might have gained a different impression at a busier time of the day,though.
petras409 | 19.12.15 - 9:13 a.m. | #
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It might be more difficult to close London Overground ticket offices but if they wanted to they could do it. The technology is already there.
My understanding is that currently there is no intention to close London Overground ticket offices because there are legacy fares that just make things too complicated so the objective is to go the other way and always have them open when trains are running. Unless you can get rid of point-to-point seasons and a host of other added complexities it is unlikely to happen any time soon.
Pedantic of Purley | 19.12.15 - 9:41 a.m. | #
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The Dangleway's ticket offices remain open, of course...
Your last paragraph contains an important point - London's media has stopped investigating transport. The amount of TfL PR that now gets swallowed without touching the sides is astonishing. Maybe it's the influence of the Standard, always a happy-clappy Boris sheet, or maybe it's the general withering down of the media. Or maybe they think it's all too geeky for them.
Incidentally, if you go to those ex-Silverlink ticket offices, what do they give you? A London Underground ticket or an orange National Rail ticket?
Darryl | Homepage | 19.12.15 - 11:47 a.m. | #
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With the media its difficult to know how much of any 'fuss' is genuine, and how much is just filling airtime with the usual suspects (unions, politicians and these so called community leaders), or asking random people leading questions - 'Are you upset your ticket office is closing?'
The fact that there weren't hoards of people buying tickets or whatever at the last ticket office to remain open, does point towards the general public not being that bothered.
Last deep level coal mine closed yesterday too (cheaper to dig it up in South America, and bring it here on a ship, the slightly increased cost of the longer train journey is an irrelevance).
| 19.12.15 - 11:48 a.m. | #
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Note that there are 12 LU ticket offices left,as Harrow & Wealdstone has 2 ticket offices!
The only reason there wasn't a long queue, was that most people don't know that there were (and still are!) LU ticket offices left open!
Save the windows | Homepage | 19.12.15 - 12:13 p.m. | #
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Just a warning that Willesden Junction does NOT have an LU ticket office, only a London Overground ticket office (which is inferior to an LU one,apart from the fact that it should still take company cheque!)
Save the windows | Homepage | 19.12.15 - 12:35 p.m. | #
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Closure of the Euston Sq ticket office has made the congestion at the north side entrance much worse. Only two ticket machines (one often not working recently), so long queues whilst the member of staff, if there, adds to the melee. Would have thought it would have been sensible to move the ticket machines around the corner to where the ticket office was but no sign of that. Perhaps they should remove machines at that entrance completely and force people to the newer, larger south side concourse.
Jon B | 19.12.15 - 1:03 p.m. | #
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@PC Out of curiosity: How is one supposed to buy an annual Travelcard? Not everyone is online and the price of such a ticket (up to 4012£ next year) will be above the daily limit of many cards.
MK | 19.12.15 - 1:54 p.m. | #
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The answer to Annual Travelcards is don't buy them from a tube station. The benefits are better at some national rail stations. For instance South West Trains give you 6 free weekend tickets valid anywhere in South West Trains land - Weymouth, Exeter anyone? - even if all you want to buy is a Zone 1&2 annual ticket. Also note that a national rail annual ticket allows you to buy your partner a Network Railcard for £10.
ap | 19.12.15 - 2:59 p.m. | #
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For the benefit of any readers with a time machine, if you're after a souvenir from a ticket office before it closes, what you want to ask for is a platform ticket.
martin | 19.12.15 - 4:37 p.m. | #
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@ petras409
"working 8 days on the trot" ...so much for work/(family) life balance.
Were employees doing 8 days on the trot when the ticket office was open?
Working Class Hero | 19.12.15 - 4:47 p.m. | #
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@ap Is that true even with a yearly Z1-2 Oyster card?
It's sad to see the ticket offices close, but also fascinating to see each station deal with the queues for ticket machines. They've built some elaborate barriers at Kings Cross, but left Liverpool Street's machines as a free-for-all. I know which I prefer.
Matthew | 19.12.15 - 4:54 p.m. | #
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Contactless cards are cheaper for TfL than Oyster - but where it all goes wrong for the user is if the gates can't read your card at either end of a journey (not that rare, at least in my experience). With Oyster the roaming staff can generally sort things out if they're around, but with contactless cards it's a kafkaesque nightmare! I understand from station staff that they're still set to roll out new and cleverer ticket machines that can (with staff involvement) handle non-Oyster refunds and corrections for smallish sums, but that these are hugely delayed and will only appear by end 2016 at the very earliest.
David | 19.12.15 - 5:22 p.m. | #
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@Matthew
Fair point - I don't think they can issue their Z1-2 annual ticket as an Oyster.
This site may help though...
http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/
ap | 19.12.15 - 6:11 p.m. | #
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On to the issue of queues. These were long at Victoria when the ticket office was closed but, to be fair, they were long when it was open. The space has now been used to provide many more ticket machines. It will be interesting to see the long term effect.
Pedantic of Purley | 19.12.15 - 8:15 p.m. | #
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@ MK - as far as LU are concerned then if you want an annual on an Oyster card then you must purchase online or by phone. The electronic ticket can be collected at a nominated station later. I believe the Gold Card is posted separately to the holder and then the holder must ask a LU member of staff to set the discount on the Oyster Card. What a palaver compared to 2 minutes at a ticket office window which did the whole lot in one go.
Apparently you can also buy at London Overground stations that have ticket offices and a small number of National Rail stations (*) that have Oyster retailing facilities in their ticket offices. I think the Visitor Centres should also be able to sell them.
All other National Rail stations in the zones will be able to sell you a paper Annual Travelcard and give you a Gold Card. Obviously you lose access to discounted off peak fares on Oyster if you opt for this form of ticket. You could get a separate Oyster Card and have the discount set on it but it's not as simple as Oyster which can cope with a Travelcard and PAYG extension on one card.
* Balham, Barking, Beckenham Junction, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Drayton Park, Ealing Broadway, East Croydon, Elmers End, Essex Road, Euston, Fenchurch Street, Finsbury Park, Hackney Downs, Ilford, King’s Cross Thameslink, Limehouse, Liverpool Street, Mitcham Junction, Marylebone, New Cross, Northolt Park, Romford, Shenfield, Stratford, St Pancras International, Upminster, Walthamstow Central, Watford Junction.
The above is an old list so may NOT be 100% correct. I think London Midland have changed their ticketing systems meaning Oyster retailing is no longer possible at Euston or Watford Junction. Also the list is from a time prior to TfL taking on West Anglia and the Shenfield line. I don't know if there has been an immediate upgrade to ticket offices to bring in Oyster retailing at places like Forest Gate or Stoke Newington.
PC | 19.12.15 - 11:57 p.m. | #
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@MC - The Southeastern stations mentioned no longer have Oyster at the ticket office.
London Overground stations can add railcards to Oyster, but they can't add TfL Bus and Tram Photocards or the Jobcentre discount ones, nor sell the discounted bus passes. 7 day B&T passes can only be sold at TVM's!
They can issue Oyster though.
Overground Commuter | 20.12.15 - 12:42 a.m. | #
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"an incredibly rare site" -- I think this is the first grammatical error I've seen on the blog in gawd knows how long reading...
Klepsie | Homepage | 20.12.15 - 11:55 a.m. | #
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I have a genuine question about the loss of ticket windows. Assuming that one is a visitor to London and requires one of the special tube maps (say) for the visually impaired (the larger ones), where would one go to obtain one? Locals can send away, but the guides can only be sent to UK addresses. There is a download facility, but that is pretty useless unless one also lugs around a giant screen.
Antipodean | 21.12.15 - 7:48 a.m. | #
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Virtually all customers use oyster or a contactless card. Why ignore that fact?
Antipodean: Many apps that show the tube lines or indeed look at the maps on the walls of every station? Some places seem to have them in holders in the station though, maybe only occasionally though?
Kevin | 21.12.15 - 8:02 p.m. | #
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A notice has appeared at Kew Gardens station stating that London Underground are consulting on proposals to close the ticket office.
The consultation will close on Wednesday 27 Jan 2016.
Nickh | 09.01.16 - 4:48 p.m. | #
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