Penzance Town Mayor Cllr Stephen Reynolds welcomes the decision to scrap the proposals to close railway ticket offices across England
When the plans were first announced back in the summer, Penzance Council unanimously voted to support the retention of a staffed ticket office at Penzance Railway Station and objected to the proposed closure by GWR.
Consultation results released yesterday by Transport Focus showed that Penzance recorded by far the highest number of station-specific objections in the GWR network, at 2,075 – nearly 10% of the entire total and more than the rest of Cornwall combined!
Cllr Reynolds said: “This is an amazing level of response from our community. It shows not only our deep concern about the impact of the proposals, but also our affection for the railways and the people who work on them. As the terminus of one of the world’s most iconic railways, our railway station is an important part of our local identity.”
The response from Penzance reflects a broad-based campaign across the whole community, including two well-attended protest rallies at the railway station, paper petitions, and a unanimous vote by Penzance Council to support the retention of a fully-staffed ticket office.
Cllr Reynolds continued, “I would like to thank everyone in our community who supported this campaign in whatever way. In particular, local rail user Mary Jane Willows made a massive contribution, collecting over 1,000 signatures on her paper petition in just the first week of the consultation.
“My thanks also go to Barry West and his colleagues at the RMT Union for organising the protest rallies and postcard campaign.”
“I said at the August rally that Penzance may be a small town, but we have a big voice and are speaking up. The statistics show just how loud that voice is.”
