Monday, 19 September 2011

Keep Ticket Office Open says Town Council

Hebden Royd Town Council has written to Transport Secretary Philip Hammond to voice its opposition to the closure of the ticket office at Hebden Bridge station.

The Chair of the Council's Transport Working Party, Cllr James Allison, said, "The ticket office at Hebden Bridge station provides a very valuable service to rail users across Hebden Royd. It provides much more than just the opportunity to buy tickets. Staff at the station provide valuable help and advice to local residents, helping them to plan journeys and to select the cheapest from the wide and often confusing range available. Not only that, they are available to help with accidents or mishaps that may occur at the station."

The current proposals are to remove staff from Category E stations. "We are calling upon the Secretary of State to reclassify the station as Category D or above," said Cllr Allison.

"Category E stations generally have usage of less than 250,000 journeys per annum. There were 627,000 journeys from Hebden Bridge in 2010 and usage has been increasing considerably in recent years. Hebden Bridge is clearly far too busy a station to be left unstaffed."