Shutting up for a siesta? Shock service cut at Camden Tube ticket offices

Published: 25 March, 2010
by RICHARD OSLEY

TICKET offices in Camden’s underground stations are to take a siesta-style break and close for hours at a time in the middle of the day.

The plans drawn up by Transport for London (TfL) – which is ultimately managed by London Mayor Boris Johnson – will see dramatic cuts to opening hours.

Objectors said the sleepy new ticket office times would take away an important part of their high streets and would damage confidence in station safety.

A secret TfL blueprint, seen by the New Journal, shows the ticket office at:

• Hampstead will be open only on weekdays from 7.45am to 10am and will close at weekends at 2.30pm.

• Belsize Park will be shut down between 11.45am and 4.30pm on weekdays.

• Chalk Farm will be closed on weekdays between 11.45am and 5.45pm. 

•Camden Town will shut down on Sundays between 12 noon and 4pm.

• West Hampstead will close from 12.45pm to 5.15pm on weekdays.

The plans were uncovered by Ed Fordham, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, who is now trying to persuade Mr Johnson to  spike the proposals before they come into effect.

“These plans are ill thought out and unjustified,” he said. “They add insult to injury – having experienced weekend after weekend of closures on the Tube system here in north-west London, and with more to come, to announce these closures is a disgrace.”

Mr Fordham added:  “The plans to close ticket offices seem to be targeted at some of the most critical stations – high in visitor numbers and high in footfall – especially Hampstead and Camden Town.  

“The opening times are entirely arbitrary and will massively hit travelling passengers and undermine confidence and safety. The ticket office performs a crucial function and by forcing everyone onto the oyster card system Boris is excluding the very people who need help and assistance.  I really believe that as well as undermining confidence this will have serious issues for safety and visitors to London will have a poorer impression and experience.” 

TfL says it is simply responding to customer demand and can carry out the changes without compulsory redundancies, and plans to instead not recruit new staff when positions become vacant.

David Bouchier, from NW3 Business, a group of traders in Hampstead, said: “I cannot stress enough the importance of the underground in bringing visitors to Hampstead. This is particularly true at weekends but also in out-of-commuter hours.”

He added: “A thriving station is also one of the mainstays of our community in the town and a hub of the High Street.”

A TfL spokeswoman said: “We have assured staff and customers that all of our stations will continue to be staffed at all times while trains are operating, and that all stations with a ticket office will continue to have one. 

“The changes we’re proposing to ticket office opening hours are in line with customer demand, so that our employees are deployed in those places at those times where passengers most value their help and reassurance.”

She added: “These changes will build on our exceptional safety record which has seen crime on the Tube fall by eight per cent in the last year.”