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Milton Keynes News 12 September 2012
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Millions of pounds look set to be wasted, following a misguided attempt by the Government to save money.
One of the first victims is Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, where a new station has been built on the West Coast main line at a cost of £2.2 million.
Commuters and politicians have been contacting operator London Midland to find out why the station building, which opened in June this year, has only “rarely” been open during the past few weeks.
Passengers have been told that if the ticket office is closed, the station building, including the toilets and waiting room, must be closed, even though the train service continues.
The local paper, the Milton Keynes News, has reported there are now fears that the station could be “closed by stealth”.
Spurred on by a 2011 report produced by Sir Roy McNulty, London Midland decided to restrict the station opening hours and in September the Government approved the operator’s request to limit opening hours to 06.15 to 11.00.
London Midland claims the recent closures were caused by staff sickness.
Many other stations are likely to be affected by the McNulty process over the next few years as train operators follow the bad example set by London Midland.
In his inappropriately named “Value for Money” report in 2011, aviation enthusiast McNulty recommended that 675 station ticket offices should be closed.
The threat to the ticket offices was first revealed in Railfuture’s Railwatch magazine in July 2011.
Now the TSSA rail union has produced a video warning people to wake up to the threat to their ticket offices and stations and campaign for them to be kept open.
TSSA video