Unbelievable cuts on the Walsall line Mumrar, thanks for highlighting those!
These cuts are frankly a disgrace. Jewellery Quarter, Aston and Smethwick Galton Bridge are some of the the biggest stand out 'jokes', but it's the evening hour cuts that bother me the most. Just running through some of the stations on my local bit of the LM network, stations like Gravelly Hill, Erdington and Chester Road, at least, need to be staffed well into the evening, I'd say they need to be open 22:30, if not latter. If this is not the case, there will be a major increase in the risk of using these station and there will certainly be a rise in crime. I know that the staff at Erdington have worked hard over the years to stop drunks and yobs hanging around the station at night, and now it's far better then it was as a result. Off the X City line, I certainly wouldn't use Perry Barr station after 18:00 anymore. And I'm sure Stechford and Lea Hall will increase their contributions of route crime delays to WCML once the staff are gone at 14:00 and 17:00 on a Summers afternoon. :roll:
What makes the above worse is that these changes are happening for the Summer, when evening anti-social behaviour rates go up! What stations like Gravelly Hill will be like when they become unstaffed at 18:00, who knows...
Elsewhere on the north Cross City, it's embarrassing that the two largest stations, Lichfield City and Sutton Coldfield, are closing at 19:00, especially Sutton which is used by over 1 million people per year. Both due to their importance should be open till the end of service. I'd begrudgingly accept the mass cutting of hours at Butlers Lane (full time to 07:00 till 10:00! Mon - Thurs, 08:00 - 16:00 Fridays only) and Blake Street (full time to 07:00 till 12:00), and think a 19:00 finish at Four Oaks is fair enough. I was actually pleasantly to see the hours for LTV, I thought they'd have taken a chainsaw to their hours but it seems the West Coast services have saved it.
Though I'll accept some of the cuts above, I'm interested to know what changes LM will make if they implement them and all of the cuts (as I think they'll do). Specifically:
- Will there be an increase in the number of ticket 'booths' on the bridge at New Street? There current two or three will not suffice when thousands of passengers find their own stations closed, and inevitable, TVMs broken.
- Will there also be an lengthening of the hours that ticket gate and RPI's do? Otherwise, it'll be a free-for-all...
- Will someone actually be going around emptying the stations after the last service and locking up, or are they planning to wait until proper stations like those found at Smethwick Galton Bridge, Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield City, ect, are burnt to the ground?
I'd also be interested to know when London Midland will be increasing what they pay the BTP, as they'll be the ones that'll have to take the burden of the mass de-staffing of stations in the evening... I imagine the answer to all the above is, inevitably, no.
I'd also like to raise a slightly controversial point regard what I believe is deception on the part of London Midland. It's this comment on their website:
Maintaining safety and security on stations
We understand that staffed stations can make people feel safer, but our ticket office staff are not best placed to combat crime. Many of our stations have CCTV and we will have help points in place at all stations, directly linked to someone who can provide reassurance or contact the emergency services. We will continue to work closely with the British Trasport Police (BTP) and monitor any changes in crime or anti-social behaviour following any changes.
Maybe the representative of London Midland on this board would like to tell us how many station's will
actually have their CCTV monitored once the station staff have gone home? A station I know of only had it's CCTV upgraded a few years ago, but as I understand it, is only watched by the station staff. I can't imagine the situation is any different elsewhere. So, if there is crime on the station after 19:00, it won't be seen. If you're beaten up on the station and get robbed, you've got to drag yourself over to the 'help point' (I use that loosely), wait for it to dial up LM, then wait for someone to get to you.
There'll be blood on the hands of those on the
senior management team at London Midland, it's inevitable.
Personally, for all the good that it'll do, I'll be writing to the passenger focus address and my local MP. I suggest anyone who's in an effected area do the same. Also, I was told yesterday by a member of station staff at one station that their union are printing up postcards for passengers to lodge their complaint on, so watch out for those if you see them.