Northern has announced that they have implemented new measures to help protect passengers and staff.
Until further notice, all waiting rooms at Northern stations will be closed. In the event of bad weather, Northern will review the situation and may look to re-open waiting areas if appropriate.
All gatelines at stations managed by the train operator are now fully open, meaning passengers do not have to pass paper or season tickets through the barriers. Northern has also suspended the issuing of penalty fares until further notice.
Customers will still require a ticket to travel and should buy before they board from stations, ticket machines, and Northern's mobile app.
Northern is only accepting card payments at the moment – cash payments can only be made at a small number of ticket machines.
What did the officials say?
Mark Powles, Commercial and Customer Director at Northern, said:
“Our trains and stations remain open for business to help key workers get where they need to be across the north of England.
“For those who have to make essential journeys – and for our staff who continue to work across the network – we want to make the railway as safe as possible.
“The measure we have introduced today further limit person-to-person contact and help staff and passengers follow the advice from government on social distancing.
“Though we have closed waiting rooms and opened gatelines, our ticket offices remain open to provide help and advice to passengers. We will, however, only accept payment via card (chip and pin or contactless). Customers who want to pay by cash will be asked to use ticket machines if they are available.”
These are unprecedented times for the rail industry and everyone at Northern would like to thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding as we continue to work to keep the region's key workers on the move.”
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I just hope that the Coronavirus does disappear. It’s already causing lots of problems including people not obeying the rules and not staying at home including not self-isolating. As seen on social media platforms, newspapers and on the news.
What about those who can only pay by cash and have no access to a working ticket machine