TUBE passengers may have to queue longer for tickets from Sunday as staff are relocated to other areas.
Transport for London (TfL) has cut the number of staff manning London Underground ticket offices as it says that just one in 20 Tube journeys involves a ticket office purchase because of the success of Oyster cards, internet sales and automatic top-ups.
Howard Collins, chief operating officer at London Underground, said: “We have made the commitment that our high safety standards will be retained - every station will remain staffed, and that every station with a ticket office will still have one with opening times that reflect demand.
“Staff who were previously behind under-used ticket office windows will be able to be deployed to places where they can better assist passengers.”
But RMT general secretary Bob Crow condemned the plans, claiming they will leave a third of stations unstaffed and could lead to an increase in criminal activity. He also accused Boris Johnson of going back on his promise that no station would be left unstaffed.
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