THE recent letters expressing concern about the plan by National Express to install ticket barriers at York station should come as no surprise to those who use their services in East Anglia, where they have “form” when it comes to making a mess of listed stations.

One letter mentioned Cambridge. There the barriers have been squeezed into the quite small booking hall of what was a fine station building used by as many passengers as York, and a lot more bikes.

For much of the day the place is a chaotic shambles, such that revenue protection can hardly have improved. All the catering outlets are now on the “paid” side of the barriers, some of them losing up to 60 per cent of their trade, while the only unit in the booking hall, one of the popular M&S shops, has lost 11 per cent due to the congestion.

Down the line at Norwich, the barriers there have separated the toilets from the rest of the station facilities, closed a secondary access route, and created problems for passengers interchanging at this terminal type station.

Congestion has been created in the small area between the barriers and the buffer stops, while the gates let passengers through irrespective of any restriction of their ticket to a particular service. National Express, unlike Grand Central, is less than generous when it comes to payment for being on the wrong train.

Richard Malins, Station Approach, March, Cambridgeshire.