Concern over Cuts in Station Manpower

11.20.06am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 23rd Jun 2008

South West Trains are cutting 58 posts from their station manpower including cuts at three major local stations - Twickenham, Richmond and Teddington. Other smaller stations in the Borough will experience cuts in opening hours at ticket offices.

Vincent Cable MP has written to SW Trains' Chief Executive to make a public statement explaining to the travelling public what these cuts mean: "There is already a great deal of frustration with defective ticket machines and with passengers unable to obtain tickets before they travel. More generally, passengers are already anxious about security on stations, especially at night, and only two weeks ago Teddington - which now loses staff - was given a Safe Station award. I suspect that local rail users will not understand why there are cuts in services when rail fares are rising faster than inflation."