Closing rail ticket offices is putting profits over people - Yorkshire Post Letters

The situation over the proposed closure of nearly all station ticket offices is beyond the pale.

My wife and I have lived in Settle for nearly 20 years now and for far longer than that I have been involved, until recently, as a volunteer on the Settle Carlisle Railway.

There is an aspect of this proposal which goes far beyond tickets. Settle is a tourist hot spot attracting not just the fit and well but the very young and old.

These folk often use either a pram or wheelchair which is no problem when travelling in the Leeds (up) line direction.

However when arriving from the Skipton direction this entails crossing a footbridge which does not boast a ramp on either side.

The procedure then is for the station manager to ring Settle Junction signal box to ensure the rails are safe to cross before unlocking the platform gates at the north end to allow pushchairs and wheelchairs to make a safe crossing.

Northern Rail in particular are going to be liable for any incidents which occur due to this ridiculous situation.

People matter, profits are secondary.