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From March 2008, about 240 staff will be redeployed from the least busy stops to the busiest stations.

But watchdog London TravelWatch said: "We do not want to see the less busy stations suffer unduly."

Less than 3% of Tube journeys are now made on single and return tickets, with Oyster accounting for more than 60% of all trips, said TfL.

It said in addition to the closures to lightly-used ticket offices, other stations will see a reduction in ticket office hours.

"There will be some changes at some of the stations," said a TfL spokesman.

"Some stations such as King's Cross, London Bridge, Bank and Victoria will see an increase in staffing."

The shake-up does not involve redundancies and the redeployed staff will be assigned to frontline services such as driving trains.

"This has meant we have already been able to shift station staff from behind the plate glass windows in ticket offices to the platforms and in ticket halls.

"By increasing the visibility of staff they will make the stations a safer place and will be able to fully assist customers."

'No alternative'

TravelWatch said it was "surprised" by the announcement as it was due to meet to discuss the issue with TfL in July.

"We would be concerned if staffing levels fell drastically," said a TravelWatch spokesman.

"There needs to be enough staff for passengers to be and feel safe, secure and for the provision of information."

James Brokenshire, MP for Hornchurch, said "some of the more vulnerable members of our community" would be worst hit by the closures.

"The use of Oyster may be growing, but three in 10 journeys still don't use this technology.

"People shouldn't be left with no alternative other than to use a machine that can't answer questions, can't give advice on purchases and is liable to break down."

The final list of stations that where the ticket office changes will be introduced will be announced towards the end of 2007. 

Stations currently earmarked for this change are as follows:

Becontree;  Boston Manor;  Buckhurst Hill

Canons Park;  Cannon Street;  Chesham

Chiswick Park;  Chorleywood;  Croxley

Debden East;  Putney;  Fairlop

Hornchurch;  Goldhawk Road;  Ickenham

Latimer Road;  Mansion House;  Mill Hill East

Moor Park;  North Ealing;  North Harrow

Northwood Hills;  Park Royal;  Perivale

Ravenscourt Park;  Regent’s Park;  Royal Oak

Ruislip;  Ruislip Gardens;  South Ruislip

Sudbury Hill;  Temple;  Totteridge & Whetstone

Upney;  West Acton;  West Finchley

West Harrow; West Ruislip;  Wimbledon Park

The new Wood Lane station currently under construction on the Hammersmith & City line will also not have a ticket office when it opens in 2008.

Your emails

I work for London Underground in the ticket office and all these figures they come up with are very nice; 60% journeys on Oyster, less transactions at the ticket office windows etc but the oyster card has made ten times more problems in the ticket office. We all in the ticket office agree that Oyster has not been explained fully enough to people, especially tourists. The majority of our shifts are trying to sort out problems with these 'wonderful' oyster cards. As ticket office staff we are trained and experienced with all the possible tickets available, and therefore best placed to advise customers. they can close the offices but in the long run it will only be the customers who lose out.

The underground makes out these cuts are because of 'what the customer wants' but the real reason is money. Just like what all there decisions are made upon.
Anon

I am a frontline member of LUL staff, working on the gateline. The closure of ticket offices and the redployment of ticket office staff to the barriers is all about saving money and nothing to do with customer service.

Most stations only have one machine capable of accepting notes and cards; if this machine becomes defective or the coin/note vault is full, then passengers can only use coins to buy tickets - who has exist coinage these days? In addition, this touchscreen machine, of which there is usually only one per station, is the only one that passengers can use to update their Oyster cards.

Since the company started closing ticket offices last year, my job has been a nightmare - passengers simply can't buy tickets/update their oyster cards a lot of the time. A lot of the time we're turning passengers away or letting them "pay at their destination" - assuming there's facilities to pay at the other end.

The technology simply isn't in place to replace the staff they're taking out of ticket offices, but regardless of the stance the media takes, the unions, staff et cetera, LUL won't budge from its position.

Jai

I deplore removing ticket offices from tube stations.  For people like myself, the machines are confusing and for many people without change and people buying season tickets, life would be difficult.  I'm lucky in have a freedom pass. 
Pat Thomas

What surprises me regarding travel in London, is the absence of ticket barriers on railway stations around Brixton. With the current terrorism concerns this seems daft.

I saw a woman mugged for her phone at lunchtime on Loughborough Junction Station last week, because all and sundry can gain access to the platform.
James Knight

I travel rarely on the Underground therefore it is just not viable for me to buy an Oyster Card so what am I and others like me supposed to do?
Mym Clews

I am a university student who lives in north London but goes to university in Manchester. I am in London whenever it is not term time, and I find the prices of the tube crippling, and I have just found out that my nearest station, North Harrow will no longer be staffed. I find this ridiculous. As someone who does not have a full time job and who is not a London-based student, i find that I am in a bad position when it comes to being able of afford going into London, which I want to and need to do fairly regularly.

The only discount I receive is from having a young person's railcard, which gives me 1/3 off train fares, however, I can only use this when there is a member of staff to assist me. North Harrow is only staffed on weekdays from 6.30-10.00 am, so I cannot use my discount after these times, I usually pay the normal fare of £6.70. Now I have found out that there will be no staff there, so I wont be able to use the discount at all. There is currently no way to use this discount without a member of staff to serve which means that fairly soon my discount card will be pretty much useless.

For the last semester I was on an exchange programme in South East Asia, I have travelled around and seen many metro systems, and I have never seen one as expensive as London. The new metro systems I have seen obviously benefit from being young and new, in excellent condition with very few problems, however, what I don't understand is why when I came back, I found that the prices have gone up and the service quality has gone down.

Also, as a young female, I feel a lot safer when I know there are members of staff in the station. I also think it gives people more peace of mind to know there is someone there you can ask for help if need be.
Shalini

I learned on today's news of London Underground's proposals to close ticket offices at a number of stations, including my local one at Chesham, with passengers instead being expected to use ticket machines or Oyster cards. I have the following reservations.

1) London Underground's ticket machines use touch screen technology behind a totally flat surface so are only suitable for use by those with good eyesight. They cannot be used by the visually impaired.

2) The travel vouchers issued by London Underground as compensation for excessive journey delays can only be exchanged at a ticket office. They are not accepted by London Underground's ticket machines. This is already a problem with the limited ticket office opening hours at Chesham when, outside those hours, staff have resolutely declined any form of help in exchanging vouchers, simply confriming that they are not accepted by ticket machines.

3) A friend has found the Oyster card system unreliable and gone back to buying paper tickets. On the odd occasion, with credit on his card when completing a journey, swiping the card has failed to register on the Oyster central computer system. London Underground staff have simply opened the barrier without offering any other help so he has been charged the maximum fare on his Oyster account as a penalty. The Oyster system is totally open ended, there is no means of obtaining a receipt, so there is no realistic means available of disputing Oyster penalty fares.

On a number of past occasions the possibility of closing the Chesham branch line has been mooted. Making it more difficult to buy tickets is likely to reduce passenger numbers making closure easier to justify. Being a bit of a cynic I'm asking myself whether this is by design.
Roger Piper