TRANSPORT bosses say they had no option but to cut ticket office hours across the London Tube network.

London Underground will significantly reduce opening hours from this Sunday as it prepares for a reduction in hundreds of staff across the capital.

The cuts will affect key stations across Docklands: Canary Wharf East ticket office will close completely while the west office will be shut for more than two hours extra every weekday.

There are also cuts at stations including Canada Water and North Greenwich, while the Jubilee Line ticket office at Stratford will shut.

LU says with just one in 20 Tube journeys now involving a ticket office purchase, a cull was inevitable.

Howard Collins, Chief Operating Officer of LU, said: “The success of Oyster has meant that the number of customers who use the ticket offices has declined sharply, and people are increasingly using ticket machines, the web, and automatic top-ups.”

He added that every station will remain staffed and employees will be moved from ticket offices to places where they can better help passengers.

The issue of ticket office closures and staff cuts was the reason for the RMT and TSSA unions to mount four one-day strikes before Christmas.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “This announcement confirms the lethal plans leaked by RMT to leave a third of our stations unstaffed, turning the Tube into a criminals’ paradise.”