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EMT's claim that Government forcing them to install barriers is false, says Paul.

Paul Blomfield, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Sheffield Central, has accused East Midlands Trains (EMT) of attempting to mislead the public by claiming, in a letter to Council Leader Paul Scriven, that they are required by the Department for Transport to install ticket barriers which will block vital access to the bridge at Sheffield Station.  Mr Blomfield says EMT’s franchise agreement does not require them to install barriers at Sheffield station and calls on EMT to scrap their plans for barriers and look at alternative revenue protection measures like more ticket inspectors on trains.

Paul Blomfield said:

“East Midlands Trains are attempting to mislead the public by claiming that they are required to install barriers. This is absolutely untrue. The franchise agreement they signed with the Department of Transport in 2007 says that if planning approval for ticket barriers can’t be found, then other ‘revenue protection’ measures, such as more staff on trains, should be put in place.  Planning permission for barriers was rejected last year and the people of Sheffield have made it clear they want to retain open access through the station. For EMT to claim they have no other option than to install ticket barriers to block the bridge is misleading and untrue.  We will oppose EMT every step of the way if they persist in their efforts to install these barriers”

“EMT have not properly considered more ticket inspectors on trains, particularly the key routes on which they are losing revenue,  to enable more people to buy tickets onboard.  They could have manual ticket checks at platform level.  They could install more electronic ticket machines at stations to give people more opportunities to buy tickets, and also look at online tickets which people can print out at home. This happens right across Europe, why can’t it be done here too?"

“Cllr Scriven has fallen right into EMT’s trap. He’s swallowed their untrue claim without properly checking its accuracy, and is now using it to attack the Government for party political advantage. This issue is too important for political games.  We must all unite to force EMT to come up with an acceptable way of protecting their revenue which does not divide our city in two.”