Pedestrians will not be able to access Guildford station via its footbridge between Monday 4 December and Friday 1 March, in an attempt to reduce anti-social behaviour towards station staff.
South Western Railway (SWR) and Network Rail will collect data during the withdrawal period, which they hope will support their application to permanently withdraw access next year.
Currently, pedestrians may use the footbridge between Station Approach and Guildford Park Road, until recently using a paper ‘bridge pass' allowing entrance to and exit from the station via the footbridge. Using the footbridge saves around three minutes compared with the alternative route across Farnham Road bridge.
However, SWR and Network Rail allege that some people access the station's platforms and board trains without a valid ticket, having claimed to be using the footbridge as a walking route. SWR and the British Transport Police (BTP) have recorded incidents of fare evaders verbally and physically abusing station staff when challenged. Since the start of this year, there have been sixty reports of anti-social behaviour with at least twenty reported to the BTP.
SWR discovered in November 2022 that almost two thousand bridge passes went missing in twenty-five days, and estimates that the use of the bridge in this way has led to hundreds of thousands of pounds being lost through fare evasion.
It is is also alleged that when the station is used as a thoroughfare on weekend evenings, high levels of anti-social behaviour take place, requiring the police and Rail Community Officers to be present for non-rail related incidents.
Pedestrians have had the right to walk through the station and over the bridge since the British Railways Board and Guildford Borough Council made a planning agreement in 1988.
Claire Mann, South Western Railway's Managing Director, said: “We cannot accept anti-social behaviour towards our colleagues and as a result we are withdrawing pedestrian access to Guildford station footbridge between Monday 4 December and Friday 1 March. The trial will be used to gather information ahead of an application to permanently withdraw pedestrian access.
“While this may be inconvenient to pedestrians who use the footbridge as intended, we hope that they appreciate that we cannot allow our staff to be verbally or physically abused. We must also address the problem of fare evasion, which is costing hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.”
Mark Killick, Network Rail's Wessex Route Director, said: “We know most of our customers wouldn't dream of behaving like this, but these statistics don't lie. The data shows our colleagues are regularly being physically or verbally abused by people who are misusing the bridge passes, therefore we've got to take action.
“While we recognise the trial removal of the passes will be an inconvenience, we hope people will understand that we have to keep our colleagues and customers safe.”
