Major change to Guildford station after passengers abuse staff and …
A major change is being made at Guildford train station after station staff reported abuse from members of the public. From next month, pedestrians are going to banned from entering parts of Guildford station, South Western Railway has announced.
From Monday 4 December, pedestrian access to Guildford[1] station footbridge will be temporarily withdrawn due to “abuse towards station staff, fare evasion and ticketless travel”.
The trial will run until Friday 1 March, before potentially being rolled out permanently in 2024, pending the results of the initial trial. Those without a rail ticket will need to use the alternative route across Farnham[2] Road bridge
SWR said that over just 25 days in November 2022, almost 2,000 bridge passes were used by fare evaders to access platforms, board trains and travel without a ticket
The train service said that there are frequent incidents of anti-social behaviour towards station staff by fare evaders over many years., when they are challenged over their ticket. When SurreyLive interviewed staff, they reported[3] receiving stab threats, leading them ‘scared to come to work’.
Pedestrians are permitted to use the footbridge as a walking route between Station Approach and Guildford Park Road. (Image: Surrey Advertiser – Grahame Larter)
Pedestrians are permitted to use the footbridge as a walking route between Station Approach and Guildford Park Road. Until recently, pedestrians were provided with a paper ‘bridge pass’ that allowed them to enter and exit the station via the footbridge.
Claire Mann, South Western Railway’s Managing Director, said: “We cannot accept anti-social behaviour towards our colleagues and as a result we are withdrawing pedestrian access to Guildford station footbridge between Monday 4 December and Friday 1 March.
“The trial will be used to gather information ahead of an application to permanently withdraw pedestrian access.
“While this may be inconvenient to pedestrians who use the footbridge as intended, we hope that they appreciate that we cannot allow our staff to be verbally or physically abused.
“We must also address the problem of fare evasion, which is costing hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.”
Walking across the station footbridge is estimated to be around three minutes quicker than the alternative route across Farnham Road bridge. However, fare evaders regularly access the station’s platforms and board trains without a valid ticket, having claimed to be using the footbridge as a walking route, SWR said.
SWR and the British Transport Police have recorded a number of incidents where fare evaders have, when challenged, gone on to be verbally and physically abusive towards station staff. Since the beginning of 2023 there have been 60 reports of anti-social behaviour with at least 20 incidents reported to the British Transport Police.
It is estimated that improper use of the bridge passes has led to hundreds of thousands of pounds being lost through fare evasion.
The requirement to allow pedestrians to walk through the station and over the bridge was introduced following a planning agreement between the British Railways Board and Guildford Borough Council[5] in 1988.
The arrangements also mean the station is used as a thoroughfare on weekend evenings, with high levels of anti-social behaviour and the need for police and Rail Community Officer presence for non-rail related incidents.
Mark Killick, Network Rail’s Wessex Route Director, said: “We know most of our customers wouldn’t dream of behaving like this, but these statistics don’t lie. The data shows our colleagues are regularly being physically or verbally abused by people who are misusing the bridge passes, therefore we’ve got to take action.
“While we recognise the trial removal of the passes will be an inconvenience, we hope people will understand that we have to keep our colleagues and customers safe.”
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References
- ^ Guildford (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
- ^ Farnham (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
- ^ SurreyLive interviewed staff, they reported (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
- ^ Guildford train station staff ‘scared to come to work’ after tirade of abuse forces closure of footbridge (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
- ^ Guildford Borough Council (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
- ^ HERE. (www.getsurrey.co.uk)