The Department for Transport has announced its Access for All funding allocations and Kirklees Council’s bid for a ramp installation at Marsden station was not successful. No bids supported by Northern Rail were successful. The only successful bid in Yorkshire was for lifts at Wakefield Westgate. Although the total monies allocated were doubled, much of it was allocated to stations in London, the South East, the South West and in Wales.
Kirklees Council will continue to look for ways to fund this scheme with the proposed platform lengthening, the re-franchising process, and the North Trans-Pennine electrification offering opportunities.
It looks as if recorded passenger numbers may have influenced decisions as only one of the chosen sites had less patronage (in 2009/10) than Marsden.
Another reason why it’s important that Northern Rail should try to ensure that everyone travelling to and from Marsden and Slaithwaite should be able to buy a ticket – we believe that recorded passenger numbers do not fully reflect the number of people using the stations, and that this under-reporting can weaken the case for investment.