Finsbury Park Tube staff cuts ‘pose a danger to passengers’
Unions express outrage over ‘ruthless’ plans to reduce manpower at Finsbury Park station
Published: 18 June 2010
by PETER GRUNER
TUBE station staff at Finsbury Park – one of London’s biggest and busiest terminals – expressed “outrage” this week over plans to reduce manpower during crowded events.
They fear that “an incident is waiting to happen” and staff will be seriously stretched coping with huge numbers of passengers – sometimes 20,000 to 30,000 – every time Arsenal football fans use the station for matches and for music events in the park.
The row comes amid claims from union RMT, that London Underground plan to almost halve staffing numbers at stations that are already under pressure when matches and events are held at the Emirates Stadium.
The stations affected are Finsbury Park, Arsenal, Caledonian Road and Holloway Road – all on the Piccadilly line.
Worst hit will be Finsbury Park – which serves Victoria and Piccadilly lines as well as rail services to Stevenage, Peterborough and Cambridge – where a current staffing level of 20 will be reduced to just 12, according to the union.
Staff interviewed at the station said that cuts will seriously increase the risk of major incidents and dangerously reduce the ability to evacuate quickly and safely.
One Tube worker, who withheld his name because he feared reprisals from management, said: “It’s already a struggle trying to contain the crowds on a match day or during a concert in the park.
“The platforms are heaving with passengers and it only needs an incident – like someone falling onto the track – before there is panic and chaos. We need more staff to deal with these situations – not less.”
Steve Hedley, RMT regional officer said he hoped Transport for London (TfL) would think again before reducing staff. “Finsbury Park is a massive station and needs to be properly manned at crucial times, he said.”
Courtney Bailey, chairman of the Finsbury Park Business Forum, says reducing staff during Arsenal matches is a big mistake. “It’s always a worry when the station is crowded and there must be a full compliment of staff on busy days,” he said.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow added: “Once again, Boris Johnson has broken another pledge – that he would protect front-line staff and services from any budget cuts.
“Now we see that he plans to dramatically increase the risk to staff and football fans alike by ruthlessly slashing essential staff serving one of London’s busiest sporting venues.
“The cuts to staffing at stations around the Arsenal ground are matched by cuts elsewhere on the Tube, where 800 jobs are under threat, and we are committed to taking action to protect both our members and the travelling public.”
But a TfL spokeswoman described the RMT report as “meaningless scaremongering”, adding that there is no reduction in the number of day-to-day staff at these stations.
She said: “A 150-strong team of special requirements staff is available to London Underground to manage the extra numbers of people when major events take place, including those at the Emirates.
“We recently reviewed the numbers of special requirements staff needed to manage stations as crowds go to and from events at the Emirates. In some stations we’ve needed to increase numbers of additional staff and in others have found that they can be reduced slightly – this is putting staff where they can be of most value. The review was carried out in full consultation with the unions and we are always willing to meet with the RMT to allay any fears they may have.”