WHY?
The Bishop Auckland to Darlington service is under threat after cash subsidies for it were withdrawn.
Darlington Borough Council withdrew funding earlier this year and Durham County Council has only allocated money until the end of December.
Campaigners fear the service will be axed by operators Northern Rail if council cash disappears.
A campaign, launched by the Bishop Auckland Station Trust, has received the backing of local MP, Helen Goodman.
But trust members, who have been busy renovating the station, say their work is being undone by the vandals.
Yobs smashed four hanging baskets on Saturday night and have previously sprayed graffiti on the station’s newlypainted walls.
Trust president Michael O’Neill said: “It makes you angry because we work so hard to make the station a nice place, but some people just want to spoil it all.
“The vast majority of people support the station – it’s just a shame there is always this small group who want to ruin it.
“We want to protect the Sunday service and for that we need people to care about the station and the trains that come and go from here.”
So far, more than 250 people have signed a petition and campaigners will soon be collecting signatures onboard the trains.
Ms Goodman has written to Ian Bevan, managing director of York-based Northern Rail, and described the service as a vital link.
“This service is particularly important at the present as we have just led a successful campaign to save the Zurbaran paintings and Auckland Castle from being sold,”
she wrote. “The significance of the paintings and the castle have been identified as the foundation on which to develop a major tourist attraction in Bishop Auckland.
“Any decision to remove important transport connections at this time would be both premature and unfortunate.”
Save Our Sunday Service petitions can be signed at The Northern Echo’s
office in Newgate Street, Zair’s cafe in Fore Bondgate, the Four Clocks
Centre, Town Hall and station cafe.
