Northern introduces new measures to protect staff and passengers during coronavirus outbreak

Until further notice, all waiting rooms at Northern stations will be closed. This follows advice from the Government and is in line with action taken by train operators across the country. In the event of bad weather, Northern will review the situation and may look to re-open waiting areas if appropriate.

All gatelines at stations managed by Northern are now fully open, meaning passengers do not have to pass paper or season tickets through the barriers or present them to staff. Northern has also suspended the issuing of penalty fares until further notice.

Customers will still require a ticket to travel and should buy before they board from stations, ticket machines, and online via the web (www.northernrailway.co.uk) or Northern’s mobile app. Northern is only accepting card payments at the moment – cash payments can only be made at a small number of ticket machines.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “Our trains and stations remain open for business to help key workers get where they need to be across the north of England.

“For those who have to make essential journeys – and for our staff who continue to work across the network – we want to make the railway as safe as possible.

“These are unprecedented times for the rail industry and everyone at Northern would like to thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding as we continue to work to keep the region’s key workers on the move.”

Northern continues to operate an amended timetable for key workers and essential travel only – the majority of people are asked to follow Government guidance and stay at home.