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Friday, March 29, 2024

Centro ‘rejects London Midland station staffing proposals’

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Centro is standing firm in its opposition to controversial proposals by London Midland to remove staff and reduce ticket office opening hours from stations across the region.

London Midland has applied to the Department of Transport to take the issue to arbitration in the wake of huge opposition to its proposals.

Centro is ‘strongly opposed to them, as are groups such as Passenger Focus and more than 18,000 passengers, MPs and other individuals who responded to the London Midland stakeholder consultation’.

A meeting of the Integrated Transport Authority yesterday endorsed Centro’s formal objection to the plans.

Under the London Midland proposals unveiled in March this year all 57 of the stations it managed in the Centro area would be affected in some way, either with reduced opening hours or complete closure of the ticket office.

London Midland argued that passengers were increasingly buying tickets online or via platform Ticket Vending Machines, so there was less requirement for staffed offices.

Centro formally responded to London Midland objecting to the proposals and also wrote to the Minister of State for Transport, Theresa Villiers MP urging the Government to reject them.

As part of the London Midland arbitration bid the DfT has invited Centro to make representations to the Secretary of State for Transport, who will ultimately decide on whether to approve the proposals.

Centro chief executive Geoff Inskip said local railway stations were ‘gateways’ to public transport networks and provided the first impression to visitors of the quality of services an area offered.

“Centro believes staffed stations are key to providing the overall level of high service that customers expect and deserve,” he said.

“Staff perform a critical role in customer service as well as acting as a deterrent to criminal or antisocial behaviour and making passengers feel safer on the station.

“Passengers should be able to turn up at any station and go on their journey with ease and convenience – a staff presence is crucial in making that happen.”

Cllr Tom Ansell, Centro lead member for Rail and Light Rail, said in the wake of recent announcements on huge fare increases not enough was being done to give value for money for the taxpayer and the passenger.

“We believe the interests of the passenger are best served by Centro taking responsibility for the stations in its area,” he said.

“By doing so we can provide strong leadership and a local focus that gives a consistent approach to issues such as maintenance, renewal and improvement of stations.”

Cllr Angus Adams, the chairman of Centro, said the London Midland proposals failed passengers.

He said: “High profile stations such as Bournville and Jewellery Quarter would be left without a staff presence – what kind of signal does that send to passengers arriving to see some of the West Midland’s premier attractions?

“Customer experience is not best served by ticket machines or where people feel threatened by criminal or anti-social behaviour because there is no staff deterrent, or where there is no-one there just to help.

“As the Integrated Transport Authority for the West Midlands, we at Centro would be failing in our duty if we did not do our best to thwart these proposals.”

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