London Underground ticket office closures to be reviewed

Queensway station was one of the first to move ticket office staff into ticket halls and on to platforms

A review of Tube ticket office closures has been ordered by the London mayor.

Sadiq Khan said London TravelWatch, an independent watchdog, would look at the impact of closures on passengers, particularly disabled users.

The closures, which were agreed under previous mayor Boris Johnson to help save costs and pay for the Night Tube, led to strike action by unions.

The TSSA union welcomed the review. It said the closures had done "nothing" to improve passenger services.

"They have endangered passenger safety by causing dangerous bottle-necking on stations, especially at peak times; diminished services, especially for disabled people, and made the Tube a less user-friendly place to travel," general secretary Manuel Cortes said.

He added that putting customer service staff on platforms had increased pressures on the Tube network and made it a less safe place to work.

Strikes were held over the changes

The first ticket offices closed in February last year.

Transport for London (TfL) said the plan would save £50m annually.

In announcing the review, Mr Khan said: "Millions of Londoners use stations across our transport network every day and it's vital that everyone feels safe and gets the right support and information they need when they travel around our city.

"With the launch of the Night Tube, and our continuing modernisation of London's transport infrastructure, we particularly need to ensure disabled people get the right assistance when they need it and make sure no-one feels unsafe around our more quiet stations late at night."