‘You can see the train but you don’t necessarily know how to get in’: Concerns raised over Wick station access
Travellers with a train to catch have encountered locked doors when turning up at the main entrance to Wick railway station, community councillors have been told.
Vice-chairman Allan Bruce reported that on “numerous occasions” he has assisted members of the public who were unaware of the alternative way into the station. This involves walking up the side of the building and entering at the top end.
“If you’re a visitor to the town, you don’t know that there’s the side entrance,” Mr Bruce told fellow members of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council at their March meeting.
“You’re standing there and you can see the train, you can see staff members on the platform, but you don’t necessarily know how to get in.”
Mr Bruce lives nearby and often walks past the front of the station when out dog-walking.
He pointed out that the Far North Line Community Rail Partnership (CRP) is seeking better signage to help passengers.
The organisation was officially launched in Helmsdale in 2022. The following year it succeeded in its application to the Scottish Government for the line to be designated as the ninth CRP route in Scotland.
“What they’re all about is trying to promote the far north line more as a tourist kind of train rather than a commuter-type service,” Mr Bruce said. “They see this [the issue of locked doors] as certainly not helpful.
“You can just imagine the anxiety of someone who has got five minutes to catch their train… They can see the train, but can’t even get into the station.
“Yes, you can get into the station if you go away up the side of the building.
“I do know that they are pursuing that and trying to find out is there a reason why it is locked?”
He added: “At the end of the day, I just put myself in the position of a visitor coming to the town. The laugh is, when you go to the station there’s a big sign that says ‘Way out’ – you go that way and you can’t get out, the doors are locked.”
Speaking after the community council meeting, Mr Bruce said: “On numerous occasions I have had to point visitors in the direction of the side gate up nearer the police station, as there is no signage at the front of the station to advise otherwise.”
He also said that one day recently two representatives of the Far North Line CRP had been among the passengers who stepped off a newly arrived train at Wick and found the doors locked at the main entrance.
“The 20 or so people that came off the train had to double back up the platform to get out of the station using the side gate,” he said.
ScotRail acknowledged that the entrance at Wick had been closed “on occasions” due to a vacancy, which had now been filled. This had resulted in a shortage of staff and the station being closed at times of short-notice leave or sickness.
Wick is one of more than 30 stations in Scotland that will see their ticket office opening hours reduced from the end of this month.
Current opening hours for Wick are Monday to Saturday, 10.10am until 5.14pm; closed on Sunday. The new opening hours from March 31 will be 10.10am to 1.30pm, Monday to Friday; closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Last October, ScotRail outlined proposed changes to ticket office opening hours based on an assessment which it said showed a “dramatic increase” in the number of tickets bought online or at ticket machines, and a “significant decrease” in tickets being purchased at ticket offices.
ScotRail said that while the ticket office hours at Wick are changing, the station will remain staffed at the same times as it is now. Staff will remain in the station, allowing them to be more visible and help passengers with mobility issues, provide assistance with purchasing tickets or carry out other duties.
Customer operations director Phil Campbell said: “From March 31, access to the platform at Wick station will still be available through the main station building at the same times as it is today.
“New signage is being installed to direct visitors on how to enter and exit the station when the station building is closed.”
