Because of a high level of fare evasion, East Midlands Railway is changing access arrangements to the footbridge at Nottingham station.
The footbridge runs between Station Street and Queen’s Road and provides access to platforms one to six.
The new arrangements will close the access to those platforms, but the public will still be able to use the footbridge to walk between Station Street and Queen’s Road.
Access to Nottingham’s tram services on Station Street will also be maintained.
Under the new arrangements, customers who wish to access platforms one to six will need to use the station’s main entrance in Carrington Street and allow extra time to reach their platform.
Sadly, there is a minority of determined people who think they can travel for free and have been using the overhead bridge to avoid paying.
Philippa Cresswell, Customer Service Director at East Midlands Railway
The closure of access from the footbridge to the platforms is a trial aimed at tackling the problems of fare evasion and will be in place from next Monday, 28th October.
Three revenue operations recently carried out at Nottingham station showed many passengers passing through the station without a valid train ticket.
Although those results showed the operations were justified, because of the station‘s layout they were particularly resource-intensive requiring large numbers of staff.
In the long term, the cost of continuing such ticket checks outweighed the revenue gained and rendered them unsustainable.
In the first ten months of 2023, East Midlands Railway recovered more than £600,000 from fraudulent travellers and many train operators including Transport for London are taking tougher action against fare evaders.
“The vast majority of our customers always buy a ticket and understand that for the railway to successfully operate, improve, and secure investment, fares need to be paid.
Philippa Cresswell, Customer Service Director at East Midlands Railway
“Sadly, there is a minority of determined people who think they can travel for free and have been using the overhead bridge to avoid paying.
“We have a duty to protect revenue – which is ultimately taxpayers’ money and fare-paying customer’s money – and have been forced to take this action to prevent access to the platforms via the station’s footbridge.
“The pilot will commence on Monday, October 28, and customers are advised to allow extra time to walk through the station when catching their services.
“The right of way connecting Station Street and Queen’s Road will remain open, as will the access to the tram stop on Station Street.”
Responses
Perhaps ironically, a side-effect of this is that interchange between trains and the NET trams will now be much less convenient than before due to the need to pass through the station entrance.