SENRUG, the group that campaigns for better rail transport in South East Northumberland, claims the McNulty Report that recommends ticket offices at Morpeth train station should be closed, has been read too fast, both by people in the rail industry, and by journalists.

SENRUG Chair Dennis Fancett points out that whilst it’s true that McNulty recommends closure of all Category E station ticket offices (including Morpeth, Alnmouth and Berwick), McNulty also states a pre-requisite for this is “the installation of sufficient modern and easy-to-use TVMs (Ticket Vending Machines) and provision of adequate information for passengers”¹

“And there’s the problem. Inter-city operators such as the government owned East Coast tell us they can not install a Fastticket machine at Morpeth because … the station is unstaffed part of the day! There would be no member of staff on hand to assist if the machine failed to print a pre-purchased ticket.”

So McNulty is imposing a condition that can not be met, as far as inter-city travellers are concerned, claims SENRUG. “I suppose they could introduce the simpler machines that only sell tickets to local stations such as Newcastle, but these tickets can be bought on the train anyway”, argues Dennis.

“It’s mainly the inter-city tickets that people need to buy at the station. At other locations such as Newcastle, the train companies are spending thousands of pounds installing barrier gates to ensure you can only get on or off the train if you have a ticket.”

“What’s the point of that, if you could simply get on or off at Morpeth instead? It’s a licence to fare-dodgers coupled with a withdrawal of service to those who actually want to buy a ticket, but need a bit of help to do so.”

“Our conclusion is that a station with 15 inter-city services per day such as Morpeth should not in fact be classed as Category E in the first place. When was the station categorisation last reviewed? Has it taken into account the significant increase in inter-city services here that SENRUG has successfully campaigned for?” he continued.

“Another pre-condition stated by McNulty is “provision of adequate information for passengers“1. At Morpeth, we are now expecting Northern Rail to introduce Customer Information Screens at the station towards the back
end of the year. At present, there is no passenger information whatsoever available once the ticket office is closed. But our Ticket Office also provides access to the toilet and a customer waiting area. We believe it is essential an alternative method of access to these facilities be provided, if the ticket office is closed. We believe there should be waiting facilities and toilets at all stations served by inter-city long distance trains.”

“A further pre-requisite condition stated by McNulty is that before closure, the rail companies should develop “additional retail outlets, such as newsagents and convenience stores, to sell a limited range of tickets”¹. What serious consideration has there been to leasing the premises at Morpeth’s grade 1 listed building to a coffee shop or convenience store, a children’s nursery or a laundry or ironing drop-off point, which would also sell travel tickets and be able to provide up to the minute train running information, through the standard national rail systems? Not only could that reduce costs for the station operator, it would enhance the facilities available to passengers waiting at the station. Whereas if the station buildings at Morpeth were just boarded up, the rail industry would still have to pay for its upkeep as it is Grade 1 listed.

“Finally, McNulty states in his report that the reasons why regional rail services cost more per mile than inter-city and suburban trains is that less people use them². We entirely agree”, says Dennis. “That is why this group actively campaigns to get more people using our train services. If we increase passengers, then cost per passenger mile goes down. But who wants to turn up at an empty station with no facilities? Applying the recommendations of this report to stations with significant inter-city services would be like driving a train down a single track line in the wrong direction – precisely the opposite to what we need to do to secure a long term rail future.”

“It just doesn’t make sense to make a lot of railway staff redundant then pay them to be on the dole instead” says Dennis. “Is there a realistic chance they could find other jobs? This has echoes of the Bombardier decision all over again!”

“There are many valid points within the McNulty Report and we agree costs need to be taken out of the rail industry. But the real savings come from re-vamping the franchising regime and addressing the key infrastructure problems within the industry, not simply the quick fix of withdrawing further services to passengers.”

¹ Section 12.1.6 Sub-section Retail (Page 244 in online MS-Word version),

² Section 19.1.1. (Page 318 in online MS-Word version)

SENRUG, the group that campaigns for better rail transport in South East Northumberland, will be welcoming representatives from the Weardale Railway to its next public meeting, which is at Morpeth Town Hall (downstairs Corn Exchange) at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 5th July.

The Weardale Railway is a Community Rail Project which has established a regular passenger service connected to the main line operating along a former freight only branch. SENRUG is hoping that guest speakers John Askwith and Steve Raine will talk about the challenges encountered and lessons learned, and the implications for SENRUG’s own campaign to re-establish passenger service along The Ashington Blyth & Tyne Line. There will be the usual time for questions and answers related to the speakers’ subject after the talk,

Dennis Fancett, Chair of SENRUG said: “This meeting is open to all members of the public and you don’t have to be a SENRUG member to attend. Tea and Coffee will be available before the meeting starts. It looks like we are going to have an interesting evening, and I hope to see a large number of people there”

The meeting will also be SENRUG’s AGM and the formal business will be taken after the main talk and question and answer session.

More details of SENRUG and what the group campaigns for, as well as Membership Application Forms for anyone wishing to join and support the group in its various campaigns, can be found on their website at www.senrug.co.uk

SENRUG, the group that campaigns for better rail transport in South East Northumberland, has stated it is delighted with the new East Coast train inter-city timetable that will come into effect from 22nd May 2011.

The new timetable offers South East Northumberland passengers the opportunity to reach London by 09.40 each weekday morning by taking a new early bird service from Morpeth at 06.35 and changing at Newcastle. Alternatively, passengers can get to London at 10.06 by staying on the same train and not changing…

SENRUG Press Release: 13th April 2010

SENRUG, the group that campaigns for better rail transport in South East Northumberland, is concerned that Morpeth, the region’s inter-city station, is still being overlooked when it comes to planning the new East Coast Main Line station, that will come in to force from May 2011.

Although this date seems a long way away at present, the reality is the new timetable will be set in stone shortly, and it will be most difficult to negotiate further improvements after that…

SENRUG, the group that campaigns for better rail transport in South East Northumberland, has organised a political debate on rail transport policy with the parliamentary candidates from the 3 main political parties for the Wansbeck Constituency…

Today we welcomed the announcement from Northern Rail that the Ticket Office at Morpeth Station will be open during the afternoon, for a trial period of 6 weeks.

The trial starts September 14th and opening hours are extended on Mon-Fri until 16.20.