NORTHERN Rail has been slammed as it closed Ulverston station without prior warning.

The ticket office in Ulverston has been closed for periods throughout the week with only a sign alerting them of its closure.

This has stopped people from accessing the ticket office, ticket machine and public toilets.

Northern have apologised but commuters have slammed the firm for yet another failure of service.

Valery Thornton, 64, Medical Secretary for Furness General said: “This is a disgrace as the Ulverston residents rely on this station. I don’t see how anyone who’s bought a ticket online is able to collect them if they can’t get to the machine.

“The only thing they had to notify people was a sign on the door saying: ‘Shut until further notice.’

“I really need this service to get to Barrow.”

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock said: “Rail passengers deserve a service they can rely on and I will be asking Northern Rail for a progress report on this situation when I chair today’s meeting of our Cumbria Better Connected campaign group at the Coronation Hall in Ulverston at 2pm, which the public can attend.”

James Airey, Ulverston Cllr said: “It’s typical of Northern, particularly on the Furness line.

“It’s just a catalogue of errors one after the other causing huge impact on people’s journeys - enough is enough.”

A spokesman for Northern said: “Unfortunately, due to unavailability of staff, it has been necessary to close Ulverston ticket office for periods during the past week.

“We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience, but can assure them that, as the ticket office has been closed, the full range of tickets is available to purchase on board Northern services.”

With the backing of our local MPs, the Mail says it’s time for change, and Northern should be stripped of its franchise.

We are under no illusion the issues faced by the stakeholders in the delivery of rail services is incredibly complex.

However, seeing the scale of the chaos caused over the summer it is clear those in charge need to be held accountable.