Northern to 'pipe' classical music across stations

The plan follows a pilot scheme conducted at nine stations across the North of England in the past twelve months (Billingham, Shildon, Heighington, North Road, Orrell, Keighley, Hyde North, Ilkley and Newton Aycliffe) which saw a significant reduction in the number of loitering, graffiti and vandalism-related incidents during the trial. Music will only be played at certain times of the day, which will vary from station to station to have the best impact on behaviour.

Mark Powles, customer and commercial director, at Northern, said: “Anti-social behaviour is a nuisance in its lightest form and nothing short of a criminal act at its worst. Unfortunately, railway stations - like many other public areas - can attract this sort of mindless behaviour – which is unfair and unsettling to our customers.

“The classical music trials proved very interesting – and the results speak for themselves. We’ll now begin work on a roll-out programme across 23 targeted stations to spread that success far and wide.”

The 23 stations are: Beverley, Birchwood, Brinnington, Bryn, Cottingham, Cross Gates, Fitzwilliam, Flimby, Halewood, Haltwhistle, Hattersley, Levenshulme, Lostock Gralam, Maryport, Mill Hill, Newton for Hyde, Penistone, Rainhill, Sowerby Bridge, Sunderland, Ulverston, Wetheral and Whiston.

This weekend (April 28-30, 2023): Bristol Model Railway Exhibition. Full details, here.