A Sign of the Times

Way back in May 2018 a lorry reversed into the Settle Station sign - mentioned in this Blog from time to time.

Network Rail took it away but there was no sign (sorry) of a replacement for many weeks, dragging on into months.   Meantime, visiting motorists were seen daily dithering at the station drive, then driving on.

FoSCL took up the matter which seemed to have fallen into an administrative black-hole between train operator Northern and Network Rail.  In the lead-up to the anniversary of the sign's demise we took to social media with daily shaming updates.  On the actual anniversary we gave it both barrels which caused panic activity and the attendance of orange army representatives, diverted from a job at Whitby.  Yes, Whitby.  Northern had declared they had a 'team' working on it and that the original sign had been destroyed so a complete replacement would be needed.

Time went by and D-Day was in the news.  It transpired that D-Day in 1944 had taken less time to plan than the replacement of the Settle station sign in 2018/19.   Network Rail Chairman Sir Peter Hendy and Northern MD David Brown, social media followers both, were taking an interest.

The sign was replaced today Wednesday 12th June 2019, and very fine it looks too.   The original sign was recovered, intact but tatty from a Network Rail facility Somewhere in England.  It is now an exhibit in the Settle-Carlisle room at Settle's Folly Museum.

One immediately obvious result of the sign is that the station car park is once again full with paying customers.

Back in late May I took a picture of the empty car park, late morning on a sunny day when it should have been full:

In complete contrast, at the same time on a wet and dismal yesterday morning it was full and overflowing, thanks in large measure to the station sign one supposes.

The loss of fare income and car parking charges to Northern these past 13 months must have far exceeded the cost of the replacement sign.