Striking Move Stemming From The Largest Rail Queue
Robert JonesPrompted by the anxiety of dealing with one of longest ticket line-up in Britain, a train union is set to hold a national ballot on industrial action.
The Union For People In Transport And Travel (TSSA) claimed that a 30-minute and 100metre long queue in Coventry just to obtain a ticket, stems from the closure of Virgin staff ticket offices.
According to the union, Britain’s longest queue ever could have easily gotten larger if several passengers had not been discouraged and left the premises. Union officials continued by saying the line-up is bound to get longer as we’re entering on of the busiest travel periods all year.
The union accused Virgin of attempting to introduce automated service through a series of ticket machines in a bid to reduce costs, resulting in travellers paying extra and having to endure longer waiting periods for tickets all over the UK.
The Union For People In Transport And Travel representative Tom Condor said that since the start of the economic downturn, these rail companies have had to develop strategies in order to keep expenditures as low as possible. Condor said their answer was to make passengers use automated machines, representing a significant reduction in manpower.
Condor revealed that queues have just been getting longer during the last 18 months.
He said that rail employees have the legal duty to provide train passengers with the least expensive ticket, while a machine could easily provoke a situation where an individual could be over charged by the system.
In its defense Virgin said the Coventry line-up was caused by shortages of employees, meaning the temporary closure of ticket offices.
Virgin apologised for the trouble for its clients and claimed to be hiring extra employees in a bid to handle the Christmas rush.
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Filed under Business & Finance, Travel News, UK News