New travel advice arrangements at Waterloo station
South West Trains today (Tuesday 19 May) launched a consultation with stakeholders on proposals to close the dedicated London Waterloo Travel Centre and offer an improved service at the station ticket office.
Proposed new travel advice arrangements are as follow:
- Plans to close Travel Centre and offer improved service at Ticket Office
- Customers switching to internet, telesales and ticket vending machine purchases
- Passengers to have access to same services and no staff job losses
- Passengers will be able to access the same services as before under the new plans, including the full range of tickets and advice on planning travel.
Following consultation with stakeholders, final detailed plans will be presented to the Department for Transport and the Office of Rail Regulation.
If approved, the new arrangements will be in place at London Waterloo from September 2009. Currently, both the travel centre and the ticket office are operated by the same group of staff on a rota basis, and there would be no job losses as a result of this proposal.
Under the plans, passengers will still be able to purchase a full range of tickets from Waterloo Ticket Office, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The proposals reflect significant changes in the way customers buy tickets and access travel advice, and follow a £12 million investment in a new generation of ticket vending machines (TVMs) across the South West Trains network.
A total of 32 TVMs are available at Waterloo station, allowing passengers to make quick and easy ticket purchases. Increasing numbers of passengers are also now turning to online and telesales bookings for advance purchases. This summer, South West Trains will launch its new website, making it even easier for passengers to book tickets online.
In addition to meeting its franchise commitments, South West Trains has asked stakeholders for their views on some specific potential elements for a revamped ticket office, including:
- dedicated advance purchase windows with a separate queuing system
- dedicated same-day travel windows
- customer service floorwalkers to assist passengers
- additional seating
Travel information will also be available to passengers at the ticket office and from station staff as well as through the South West Trains website and customer service call centre.
Customer Service Director Ian Johnston said: “It is clear that the way people buy tickets and access information on the rail network has changed significantly in the same way as in many other aspects of people’s lives, from shopping to leisure activities.
“It has become much more common for people to purchase their tickets online, through telesales or TVMs. Almost 70% of tickets purchased at Waterloo are now bought using TVMs and telesales purchases have risen by 145% within the past year.
“As a result of these changing passenger habits, the need for travel centres has been reduced, which is why we have put forward these proposals.
“However, we understand that some passengers prefer to buy their tickets and get information face-to-face, so that is why we have ensured that this will still be possible at the Waterloo Ticket Office.
“Information on tickets and services will remain readily available through various outlets and, although the Travel Centre will not longer exist in its current form, passengers will still have full access to the information and purchase facilities they require.”
South West Trains currently leases the Travel Centre premises from Network Rail, which will take a decision on the future use of the building if permission to close the facility is granted.
Mr Johnston added: “Looking ahead, we believe that the travel centre premises at Waterloo will be used to provide additional passenger benefits and we hope that, in the long run, customers will view this as a step forward in terms of the overall facilities available at Waterloo station.”