So the people of Sheffield have spoken!
Yesterday the City Council unanimously rejected East Midlands Trains' bid to gate Sheffield station.
There were strong words at yesterday's planning and highways area board and after the meeting local councillors were keen to air their views to both the BBC and the Yorkshire Post.
Kerpow! - Council leader Paul Scriven said: "People are justifiably outraged at the idea that our footbridge, paid for with £15m of taxpayers' money, could be shut off by a private company for the purposes of profit."
Blam! - Cllr Brian Holmes said he was "disgusted" by the application.
Splat! - Cllr Alan Law slammed EMT's "pretty appalling consultation process".
Zap! - Cllr Tim Rippon said: "I think it beggars belief that an organisation like Stagecoach, which is delivering a public service, continues to pursue this application in the face of such opposition. I can only hope that Stagecoach go away and stick to running trains, and that this subject does not come before this area board again."
Oh dear.
However, every cloud has a silver lining.
Regular Eye readers will recollect that only last week Lord Adonis instructed nationalised East Coast Main Line not to pursue gating plans for York station so that through access for non-passengers could be maintained.
As the principle of through access has now been established presumably the Noble Lord will will take the same view on the situation at Sheffield and relieve EMT of its gating obligations.
If there is to be a level playing field between state-owned and private sector operators he can do no less.
UPDATE: This from the Major...
While York has indeed created the principle of through access, I sense the Noble Lord remains unwilling to violate his other principle (perhaps even his prime directive) and that is not to renegotiate franchises.
I wait with baited breath to see how Tim Shoveller can dig himself out from this hole.
