Those travelling to and from the Isle of Wight via Wightlink’s catamaran service will now have to pass through a control point to access the ferry terminal following the installation of barriers at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour train station.
Work has recently taken place to install access barriers at the busy station – a sight seen at many train stations up and down the country.
Last week a concerned commuter got in touch with Island Echo to raise their concerns. They said:
“At first staff at Wighlink said they had no information but later said that talks were taking place. I enquired at the railway ticket office and was told that ferry passengers will just need to show their ferry ticket to the person on duty at the barrier – this is assuming that there will always be someone at the barriers. What if you are purchasing a ticket for the ferry? I was told passengers would be let through on trust. Now that makes me wonder why they would install barriers at all.
“This will, at the very least, mean that island commuters will have to leave work earlier or catch a later ferry as it will take longer to get through the station to the ferry terminal”.
However, those fears have now been alleviated as Wightlink have issued official guidance on the new arrangements.
Wightlink have said:
“Portsmouth Harbour Train Station have recently installed ticket gates near the train station main entrance door.
Article continues below this advertisement “Wightlink customers and visitors are not required to produce a ticket to pass through. If you have any concerns, at any time, please speak to a member of our team at our FastCat ticket desks”.
