Ticket Offices in Acton Saved From Closure
Plans to shut South Acton and Acton Central scrapped
Proposals to close over 50 ticket offices at London Overground stations across London including South Acton and Acton Central have been abandoned.
London TravelWatch says its campaign to keep the offices open was a reason for the change of policy. In September 2018, the campaign group held a consultation on the proposals which were drawn up by operating company Arriva receiving over 6,500 responses from a range of organisations and individuals.
Arriva claimed demand at these stations did not warrant the continued operation of the offices. Closure would have left the Acton area with no ticket offices on the London Overground network.
Arthur Leathley, Chair of London TravelWatch welcomed the Mayor’s intervention, 'An overwhelming majority of those who responded to our consultation on the plans to close 51 ticket offices felt strongly that they should not close. We are pleased that the Mayor has asked TfL to reconsider the proposals and found the money to keep 47 of them open. Many London Overground passengers rely on the ticket office to buy their tickets and I am delighted that we have secured significant investment in ticketing and customer service as a result of our activity.'
The RMT Union also claimed credit for the volte face. RMT General Secretary, Mick Cash said, “This is a significant victory for RMT members at the front line of the London Overground service who led the campaign to stop this ticket office carnage and jacked up the political pressure to reverse the cuts.
“It proves that trade union campaigning works. However we remain vigilant as in our experience once a package of cuts is proposed they remain an option in the longer term. Any backsliding will result in a new blast of pressure from this trade union and our national campaign to staff our stations and retain ticket offices continues.”
Four of stations will not be retained. Stamford Hill and Theobalds Grove ticket offices, which have been closed for a number of years after arson attacks will not be rebuilt and reopened. Brondesbury ticket office will close to allow a step free access scheme to proceed. White Hart Lane may need to close as the station is rebuilt.
April 18, 2019