Rail cuts leave station 'an empty shell'
GoogleA railway station has been described as an "empty shell of what it used to be" following changes which cut services to a huge shopping centre.
A timetable overhaul in December left Seaton Carew station in Hartlepool with just one weekday direct service to the Metrocentre when previously there were 15, while the 13 trains that ran the route on Saturdays have been cut to two.
Independent Hartlepool Borough councillor Gordon Granney said residents had "lost massively" as a result.
Northern said the new timetable had been developed with the aim of balancing "local, regional and long-distance services while delivering a more reliable and punctual network overall".
Granney said it was true people could simply change at Newcastle to get to the Metrocentre from Seaton Carew but that could add up to half hour to the journey time.
He also said a resident told him having to change trains in this way made it more difficult for them to take a disabled family member to the shopping centre.
"It feels like a wasted station now," said Granney.
"It's like it's almost like an empty shell of what it used to be.
"We've had that station for many, many years and now all of a sudden it feels like it's being stripped away from us."
