South Holland the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes speaks out against proposed closure of Spalding Railway Station’s ticket office

In his weekly column MP Sir John Hayes looks at the proposed closure of Spalding Railway Station’s ticket office

When trains began to alter the way people travelled across the country, no-one could have foreseen a day when our railway stations would be unmanned. The ticket office, the signal-men, the station master and porters, and all the other railway employees made stations bustling, lively places.

All of these essential jobs, integral to the smooth running of the stations and trains, shape the experiences of passengers.

Over recent decades, the way we conduct our lives has changed drastically.

Automation has made much of what we do less personal, as in the name of modernisation jobs have been lost and personal service reduced to a minimum.

Just think of how profit-greedy banks have retreated from many high streets, and where branches remain, how woke bank bosses have minimised what can be done within them.

The way that we travel has altered too.

Once, a train journey would have involved many enriching personal interactions and incidental, brief encounters.

Such apparently unimportant connections with others together form the tapestry of humankind.

Whereas now, much of what we need to do must be undertaken with minimal, if any, human contact.

Train journeys typify this regression as, thanks to ubiquitous earphones and screens, they comprise distanced individuals travelling together, yet entirely apart.

There have been steps for some time to reduce staff at railway stations, as many people now buy tickets on their phones or from ticket machines.

This trend – encouraged by train companies themselves – is being used by them as a justification for the current push to remove staff from stations, including ours in Spalding.

For rural areas and small stations, the resultant removal of personal contact poses problems and risks.

Not everyone is happy to use a ticket machine or book online.

And, when problems arise –be it broken technology, complicated fares, or delays – no machine provides an adequate substitute for a person in the know.

There are particularly acute concerns for vulnerable rail users.

The question of access for disabled people concerns me in particular.

A member of staff must be on hand to assist with luggage or the lift - which I campaigned to have installed at the station.

The proposed changes would mean no help for disabled or elderly people at the station.

Which is exactly what I told the managing director of East Midland Trains, when meeting him on behalf of my constituents.

After I urged him to rethink their unfair, unacceptable, and unreasonable plans to remove staff from Spalding station, he agreed to meet me, along with local campaigners, to get a better understanding of the challenges facing travellers.

Spalding’s railway station has graced the town since the great mid-Victorian railway age, when the Great Northern Railway established the main line from London to Doncaster through South Holland.

Though it has changed greatly over the years, the removal of staff from the station represents not just change, but a diminished, inadequate service.

Over the years, the Spalding and Peterborough Transport Forum, of which I am honoured to be president, has campaigned for local rail users.

Our successes include more regular services between Lincoln and Spalding.

The Spalding Station Adoption Team have shown us how the personal commitment of a small group of volunteers has made a difference that no amount of automation could ever match, for it is the goodness of our fellow humans that creates memorable moments in our journeys through life.