The thin end of the wedge

THEYDON Bois commuters are "paying more and getting less" as their London Underground station loses its ticket office.

The ticket offices at Theydon Bois and also at Chigwell, Roding Valley and Grange Hill stations will close on Sunday as part of a radical new system being introduced by London Underground in which it wishes to phase out the use of paper tickets and encourage the use of Oyster, a pre-pay card.

Theydon Bois district councillor Kay Rush said senior citizens were most affected by the new regime, with some finding it difficult to use the ticket machine or completing the Oyster card application form.

She added: "The Underground is their link with Epping as our bus service is limited.

"However those with Senior Railcards won't be able to purchase a discounted ticket at Theydon Bois, they'll have to leave the train at Debden or Loughton, cross the line, visit the booking office and cross back again to board the next train."

A London Underground spokesman said it was closing the ticket offices because of the success of the Oyster pre-pay card and diminished demand for paper tickets among passengers.

He said: "Demand is low at these stations and a ticket office cannot be justified.

"There are one million fewer paper tickets being sold each day and it doesn't make sense to maintain these ticket offices."

He added that more staff would man the platforms rather than ticket offices and passengers would still be able to purchase tickets from ticket machines.

Prices have gone up significantly since the beginning of the year, with the price of a single ticket from Theydon Bois to Epping rising from £1.30 to £3, an increase of 230 per cent, with Oyster users paying £1.

Mrs Rush described the fare rise as appalling and added: "It's a case of pay more and get less as we pay out more for tickets and see service levels deteriorate.

"Fares for local journeys have increased greatly - is this expected to get us out of our cars and onto public transport?"