Council remains opposed to rail station installing ticket barriers

COUNCIL bosses are set to look again at making the pedestrian footbridge through Sheffield railway station a public right of way, after the controversial debate over installing ticket barriers was reopened.

East Midlands Trains has had proposals in the pipeline for years to install barriers at the railway station, in order to stop fare dodgers in their tracks.

It is estimated that fare dodging in Sheffield costs around £2m each year and, earlier this month, Transport Minister Philip Hammond entered the argument when he said barriers would be the “only way” to tackle the problem.

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Sheffield’s ruling Labour administration has now announced that it will follow in the footsteps of the previous Liberal Democrat-run council and look into making the footbridge a public right of way.

A Labour spokesman said that, at a full council meeting on Wednesday, the authority will “be reiterating Sheffield Council’s opposition to the gating of the footbridge.”

Leigh Bramall, Sheffield Council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “The news that barriers are back on the table is very concerning and I felt that it was important to make it absolutely clear that the council will continue to oppose plans to impose them.

“The council has been looking into the possibility of installing a public right of way across the bridge and I have asked the officers to speed up their attempts to do this.

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“I would like to thank Residents Against Station Closure for all their efforts, and all the different organisations across the city who have been campaigning to protect access to the station bridge for the public.”

A high-profile rally in opposition to the ticket barriers was staged by Residents Against Station Closure at the opening of South Street Park last month.

Campaigners, councillors and members of the public marched from Sheffield Hallam University down to the railway station and over the footbridge to South Street Park, where a ceremony was then held to officially open the city’s newest green space.

The station footbridge is the easiest and safest form of access for pedestrians to the new park, as well as to communities in Park Hill and Norfolk Park.

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Another footbridge, to the south of the railway station, is less accessible for wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs, and is also described as being graffiti-ridden and unsafe.

Geraldine Roberts, vice chairman of Residents Against Station Closure, said: “We have a bridge which was built with public money which is well used.

“We certainly don’t intend to lose that unless and until there was a serious viable alternative.”

Previous plans by East Midlands Trains to install the ticket barriers were blocked by Sheffield Council when the authority said that such barriers would be detrimental to the appearance of the Grade Two-listed railway station.

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Politicians from both the Liberal Democrat and Labour sides of the political divide are also opposing the installation of ticket barriers.

Paul Blomfield, Labour MP for Sheffield Central, has said he is “extremely concerned that the barriers may be back on” and said he would be raising the issue in Parliament.

Sheffield Council’s Liberal Democrat opposition leader, Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, added: “The Department for Transport’s position has always been that it would prefer to see the barriers installed.

“Our position is that we are against the barriers regardless of which Government is in power.”

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After receiving the letter from Mr Hammond, Sheffield Hallam MP Nick Clegg said that he will “continue to push for an alternative to barriers.”

He added that the footbridge is “more than just a means to access rail platforms” and is a “thoroughfare that is well-used and valued by the public.”

A spokesman for East Midlands Trains said there were currently no plans in place to install ticket barriers.