Commuters tackle rail bosses on station parking tickets

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Cars with parking tickets at Castleton Train Station in April

Aggrieved rail users who received parking tickets at Castleton train station have confronted rail bosses and told them of their “disgust” after receiving the parking fines on what one called a “car park disguised as a street.”

In April Rochdale Online reported that 14 cars parked at the station had received parking fines of £50. The reasons given were that of causing an obstruction or not being parked in a marked bay.

Earlier this month (May) more tickets were issued. It has since transpired that some of these were in actual fact warnings and not tickets.

Commuters attended a meeting tonight (10 May) alongside Northern Rail bosses. The meeting was hosted by STORM (Support the Oldham, Rochdale and Manchester Rail Lines) at the Woolworths Club in Castleton.

The general consensus from those in attendance was that signs at the station are inadequate. The manner in which Northern Rail have dealt with complaints was also raised, because those who have written to contest the tickets have not received a reply.

Steve Horrocks, who spoke on behalf of his wife Shelia who had received a ticket, said Northern Rail had used “bully boy tactics” to punish those who just want to get to work.

He added: “I am disgusted that Northern Rail has not acknowledged our appeal considering the threats on the ticket which say an extra £25 will be added if not paid in 14 days – within 14 days we didn’t know if the letter had been received.

“We are in a ridiculous situation. If the lamp posts at the top of the road had signs on then my wife would not have parked there.

“There is nothing to indicate that you can’t park.”

He added: “We play fair and we expect to be treated fair.

“I hope it turns out that we don’t have to fight this any further.

One rail user said the move was the “last straw” for rail passengers already putting up with a “shoddy service.”

Another rail user said: “We have had no courtesy of an acknowledgement either – I feel strongly that the points raised in my letter have not been addressed.”

Points were raised about introducing double yellow lines or a full set of parking bays to avoid further problems for passengers.

The Chairman of STORM, Richard Greenwood, agreed with the complainants with regard to the lack of signs, adding that the point was “well made” and Northern shouldn’t have gone in “all guns blazing” because it is contrary to good public relations.

Northern Rail’s Mark Barker tried to reassure those who had raised the issues that the ticket issuing was not part of a “money making scam.”

He also said that whilst parking at the majority of Northern Rail’s stations is free it must be disciplined – particularly in terms of ensuring access isn’t obstructed.

Mr Barker said: “We are keen to have as many spaces as possible and encourage more people to park, but, the reason the parking doesn’t extend [at Castleton station] is to enable a free flow of two way traffic.”

He added that the signage is “visible from the top.” And, despite it “not being readable” users can see that it is “something to do with parking.”

Mr Barker admitted that he found it “disturbing” that those who had contested the ticket hadn’t received an acknowledgement and he would follow it up.

He also urged those who haven’t appealed to appeal their tickets.