50230 ‘Lack’ of staff at small stations on the Ladbroke Grove group

January 2012 in London Underground

Rostering Security South East

Concerns have been raised about the apparent lack of staff present on stations in the Ladbroke Grove group. Stations of particular concern are Goldhawk Road, Latimer Road, Royal Oak, Shepherds Bush Market and Westbourne Park.

The reporter comments that ticket offices in the stations are often closed and gatelines unstaffed. Only recently a mother was separated from her two small children because of an unstaffed barrier that was closed. The reporter questions this practice and fears the consequences of leaving the ticket barriers closed when there are no staff present, should an evacuation be required.

As the majority of stations in this group do not have the larger style ticket barriers, which aids the travel of disabled passengers and those travelling with small children or luggage, it is envisaged that this could be a common occurrence when gatelines are unstaffed.

 Could LUL answer the following:

• Should ticket barriers be left open if the gateline is unstaffed?
• What procedures are in place to ensure passenger safety and ease of travel at stations with few or no staff present?
• Are there any plans to introduce the larger style ticket barriers at these stations?

 Response from London Underground

London Underground would like to thank the reporter for their report.The ticket gates should remain in the normal operating mode (powered up) at all times, except when suitably trained staff are not available. This is in line with management guidelines found insection 13 of Ticketing & Revenue Book No 8.However, staff may not physically be present at the gateline but monitoring it from a location which has either a clear, direct line of sight of the gateline or where CCTV provides coverage. Staff have been instructed to open all gates at times when the station is unstaffed or they are not able to monitor them due to meal relief, station checks, etc.

Customer safety is paramount on London Underground and there are processes and procedures in place to assist customers in an emergency situation, should staff be unavailable.  At the locations the reporter refers to customer help points are available to summon assistance in the event of an emergency.  Once activated, the call goes directly to the group station control room at Ladbroke Grove, where staff can summon assistance as required. Additionally, for all of these stations, the gatelines and platforms can be monitored remotely via CCTV by the Station Control Room Assistants based at the group station control room at Ladbroke Grove.

London Underground installed a number of Wide Aisle Gates (WAGs) across the network, however there are currently no plans for the installation of additional WAGs at these stations.