As a regular traveller up and down the country, I can only state that the barriers in York Station will be a complete waste of time and money.

Already we can see the automated ticket sales and the removal of the very popular inquiries booth.

The whole station seems to be preparing for a complete dehumanising process. I like to buy my tickets off a person, not a vending machine.

Compare York to Bristol where they already have a very automated station (where people still jump the barriers). It is a very unwelcoming place to visit, and not nice to be in late at night.

We don’t want York to become cold and unfriendly, and we don’t want our station to become like many banks, where you can never see a friendly “human” face.

Just a few years ago we got rid of the Berlin Wall – let’s not start building more walls of our own.

Eddie Vee, Wenham Road, Woodlands, York.



• That ticket barriers of the kind that National Express East Coast (NXEC) wants to install at York station represent a real danger to small children, who can become trapped in the automatic mechanism, is recognised by First Capital Connect.

Indeed, this train operator is so concerned about the potential danger that barriers pose that it is prominently displaying posters warning parents of the need to be especially careful. Yet NXEC still seem determined to go ahead with this crazy idea.

Do they really care less about the health and safety of our children than (hopefully) deterring a few fare-dodgers?

Verna Campbell, Chair, CABYS (Campaign Against Barriers at York Station)
CABYS@live.co.uk, Fulford Park, Fulford, York.