Rail chiefs have been accused of doing “major damage” to Sunderland, despite a U-turn over heavily-criticised plans to shut the city’s railway station over the festive period.
Operator Northern sparked uproar on Friday when it suddenly announced that Sunderland station would be shut to the public for most of the run-up to Christmas. It has now backtracked on those closures, which were blamed on staffing shortages during industrial action, after an outcry from passengers and politicians.
Instead, the station will only be closed after 2.30pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and after 2.45pm on Christmas Eve. It will also be closed all day on Christmas Day. Despite the reversal, local leaders still have concerns that the incident has already been harmful to Wearside businesses and to people’s trust in the rail network.
