A local resident and regular user of Marsden Railway Station has launched a petition to bring the Station up to modern standards.

Dr. Richard Etheridge, a Chartered Engineer and retired University Lecturer, was prompted to start the campaign following a serious accident suffered by his wife while descending the station steps in November 2009. As a result of this accident Mrs Etheridge was incapacitated for nearly 3 months and is now undergoing painful physiotherapy.

Dr Etheridge said: "This access is dangerous for the disabled, the elderly and parents with pushchairs. It does not meet today’s standards".

"As people have heard about this accident they have all agreed that the access to the station is substandard. Indeed many have said that they do not use the station themselves because of the dangerous conditions."

Both Metro and Northern Rail are disclaiming responsibility and Dr. Etheridge is seeking the help of Kirklees and local councillors to pursue improvements using some of the new money earmarked for the Trans Pennine route. The Petition is widely available for signing at locations in Marsden.

We the undersigned wish to express our concern regarding the safety of access to Marsden railway station, particularly the dangerous staircases descending to platforms 1 & 2 from the road bridge. We ask that some of the new monies available to improve the Trans-Pennine service be allocated to this station in order to bring it up to the current standards required to extend access to the disabled, the elderly and parents with pushchairs. To this end we ask that the focus of the station be moved towards the ‘Old Goods Yard’ to provide a new access and so help transfer parked cars from the roadway onto the existing and underused car park.

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