Seasons Greetings from the Border Agency

This card gets my vote for the most inappropriate of the season- unless you dear readers, can show me something worse! I wonder if anyone at the Borders Agency realises that the baby Jesus was a refugee, fleeing from the murdering dictator Herod. The line that really gets me is "We have a tougher enforcement regime within the UK deporting a record number of foreign National prisoners". If Mary, Joseph and Jesus came to seek sanctuary today they would most likely be locked up in Yarlswood for several months and then booted back to Palestine. Talking of Yarlswood, last week Santa tried to deliver presents to the many children that are currently locked up there. Instead of going down the chimney he rang in advance and knocked on the front door. Unfortunately they would not let him in, and called the police instead as they thought Santa was a security risk! Read the full story here. So here's wishing everybody at the Border Agency a very happy Christmas, and hoping that some of this "peace and goodwill to all" may be catching.

Does the Penalty Fares Scheme mean we can't use the Footbridge?..........NO!

The next RASC meeting is this Monday 7.12.09 at 7pm at Victoria Methodist Church, Stafford Road. Please see below for a round up of the press coverage and interesting article on the new Penalty Fares Scheme.

Does the Penalty Fares Scheme mean we can't use the Footbridge?..........NO!

The Penalty Fares Scheme which will come into effect at Sheffield Station on 7th December will allow Ticket Inspectors to charge a penalty fare to passengers travelling on or alighting from trains operated by East Midlands Trains. The other Operators at the station, Northern Rail, Cross Country Trains and First Trans Pennine Group, are not involved in this scheme.

Ticket Inspectors are able to check tickets of passengers travelling on trains operated by other companies but they cannot charge them a penalty fare.

EMT cannot use this scheme to block access to the footbridge for people passing through the station as, in the Department for Transport Regulations (4.10) on Penalty Fare Schemes , people are only required to have a ticket if they are in a Compulsory Ticket Area. (CTA) There are no CTAs at Sheffield Station and in an email response to a recent enquiry, East Midlands Trains confirmed " No stations within the East Midlands scheme will be designated a CTA"

RASC members will be monitoring what happens at the station during rush hours when this new scheme is introduced. Do continue to inform us if EMT make your passage across the bridge difficult.

Star Poll.

77% thought the "Councillors were right to throw out the ticket barrier plans". 23% thought they were wrong.

In case you missed the Press coverage

We have had lots of publicity and I have even been interviewed about it for a documentary on Japanese TV! Here is some of the coverage. We will treasure the Star front page, Victory for Democracy!

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Victory-for-democracy.5850813.jp

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news2/Station-barriers-plans-demo.5824685.jp

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Station-barriers-plans-demo.5824685.jp

http://www.sheffieldlibdems.org.uk/news/000347/sheffield_scores_victory_in_station_barrier_battle.html

http://www.labourmatters.com/sheffield-central-labour/station-barrier-blow-a-victory-for-the-people-of-sheffield/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8370000/8370370.stm

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Controversial-plan-for-station-ticket.5838035.jp

http://www.sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk/archives/news/2009/1123stationgatesspeechcreasy.htm

http://www.sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk/archives/news/2009/1122stationgates.htm

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