TfL cut Tube ticket office opening hours yesterday. Oyster sales continue to increase, so far fewer of us need to queue up for a bit of cardboard before we start our journey. Opening hours will now "better suit demand", which means fewer staff sitting around behind a window waiting for someone, anyone, to turn up. But it also increases the chances that when you do actually need to use a ticket office, it'll be shut. Swings, roundabouts.
For the new opening hours at your local station, click on tfL's handy interactive map. For the new opening hours at every station, check this 6-page summary pdf. The big list's very complex, with almost every station having a completely different set of opening hours. To try to make sense of the overall picture, and the true scale of the cuts, I've churned the numbers through a spreadsheet. I can't guarantee the numbers are 100% accurate, but below is my handy summary. You draw your own conclusions.
» Stations which used to have a ticket office, but now don't = 0 » Stations still without a functioning ticket office = 9 (Cannon Street, Chigwell, Grange Hill, Heathrow Terminal 5, Regent's Park, Roding Valley, Theydon Bois, Upminster Bridge, Wood Lane)
» Stations not run by London Underground, and whose ticket office hours aren't changing = 17 (Barking, Ealing Broadway, Gunnersbury → Richmond, Queen's Park → Harrow and Wealdstone, Upminster, Wimbledon)
The following data is therefore for the remaining 244 stations only. n.b. Where stations have more than one ticket office, only the ticket office with the longest opening hours is included. » Stations which used to have more than one ticket office, and now have only one = 7 (Aldgate East, Canary Wharf, Charing Cross, South Woodford, Stratford (for now), Waterloo, Woodford)
Weekdays
» Ticket offices with longer opening hours = 1 (West Brompton) » Ticket offices with identical opening hours = 4 (Barkingside, Bounds Green, Dagenham Heathway, Fairlop) » Ticket offices with shorter opening hours = 239 (98%) » Ticket office with the largest daily cut = Bromley-by-Bow (-11½hrs)
» Ticket offices opening earlier in the morning = 5 (Hounslow East, Mansion House, North Ealing, Royal Oak, West Finchley) » Ticket offices opening later in the morning = 210 (86%)
» Ticket offices closing later in the evening = 5 (Arnos Grove, Cockfosters, North Greenwich, Oakwood, Paddington H&C) » Ticket offices closing earlier in the evening = 227 (93%)
» Ticket offices that used to stay open past 9pm, but no longer do = 36 (15%) » Ticket offices that used to stay open past 6pm, but no longer do = 48 (20%) » Ticket offices that used to stay open past 12 noon, but are now mornings only = 56 (23%)
Saturday
» Ticket offices with longer opening hours = 0 » Ticket offices with identical opening hours = 3 (Blackfriars, Knightsbridge, Wembley Park) » Ticket offices with shorter opening hours = 229 (94%) » Ticket offices still closed on a Saturday = 12 (Aldgate, Barkingside, Canons Park, Fairlop, Mansion House, Mill Hill East, North Ealing, Park Royal, Royal Oak, Temple, West Finchley, West Harrow) » Ticket offices now closing altogether on a Saturday = 2 (Chancery Lane, Monument)
» Ticket offices whose Saturday hours have been cut by 50% or more = 85 (35%) » Ticket offices whose Saturday hours have been cut to just one hour, which is of no genuine practical use = 33 (14%) » Ticket office with the largest cut = Hampstead (-12¾hrs)
Sunday
» Ticket offices with longer opening hours = 1 (Tower Hill) » Ticket offices with identical opening hours = 2 (London Bridge, Victoria) » Ticket offices with shorter opening hours = 217 (89%) » Ticket offices still closed on a Sunday = 24 (10%) » Ticket offices now closing altogether on a Sunday = 1 (Monument)
» Ticket offices whose Sunday hours have been cut by 50% or more = 83 (34%) » Ticket offices whose Sunday hours have been cut to just one hour, which'll make it far easier to shut them completely next time there's a round of closures = 32 (13%) » Ticket office with the largest cut = Sudbury Town (-11½hrs)
Meanwhile on the DLR...
» DLR stations that still don't have ticket offices, and everybody copes = 100%
TfL cut Tube ticket office opening hours yesterday. Oyster sales continue to increase, so far fewer of us need to queue up for a bit of cardboard before we start our journey. Opening hours will now "better suit demand", which means fewer staff sitting around behind a window waiting for someone, anyone, to turn up. But it also increases the chances that when you do actually need to use a ticket office, it'll be shut. Swings, roundabouts.
