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16
Jul
Stray Ferret reveals staff reduction trial at Harrogate station after anonymous tip-off
Northern Rail has defended its decision to trial reduced staffing arrangements during the evening at Harrogate railway station.
It is believed the rail company is to leave the ticket gates open between 9pm and midnight, seven days a week, with only one member of staff on duty at the gate, as a cost-saving measure.
The Stray Ferret was made aware of the developments by an anonymous letter delivered to our offices, written by someone concerned about the safety implications of the trial arrangements.
They wrote:
Anyone who is mobility impaired may have to fend for themselves, when boarding or alighting from trains. Booked assistance may be missed, if staff are feeling vulnerable.
As the gates will be open, anyone will be able to board a train without a ticket and end up having a free ride.
Any vulnerable young females, or persons would or could be missed as the gateline staff would no longer be present during these hours.
Anyone who is visually impaired could possibly walk through the barriers onto the track, and possibly [be] killed.
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The ticket gates at Harrogate railway station's rear entrance.
We asked Northern whether it planned to introduce these measures. A spokesperson did not deny any of the details given in the anonymous letter, but said the trial would be taking place on a short-term basis from the end of July.
They added that staffing changes would only affect gateline workers, and there would be no change to staffing levels across other areas of the station.
The spokesperson said:
We are trialling adjusted gateline opening hours at a small number of stations, including Harrogate. This is a short-term trial, informed by customer numbers and ticketing data at each location.
Colleagues will continue to be present at the station from the first to the last trains of the day.
The trial will be monitored closely, and will help us to understand how we can make the best use of our resources in order to help the most customers across our network.
The Stray Ferret also asked Northern how much more likely it would be that people with disabilities would have to cope alone when boarding or alighting – whether they had booked assistance or not – but the spokesperson did not address that question.
We also asked how much money Northern calculated would be lost through people illicitly riding free of charge. We received no response to that question either.
Government clampdown on fare-dodging
News of the trial came as the Department for Transport announced yesterday (July 15) that it would spend more than £33 million on replacing ticket barriers in an effort to clamp down on fare-dodging, which costs rail companies an estimated £400 million a year.
However, the investment looks unlikely to directly affect local stations, as it will be distributed among rail companies in the South East, East Anglia and West Midlands, as well as Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street – but not in Yorkshire or the North East.
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