Scarborough train depot noise: "Tremendous relief" being able to sleep

There's been reaction to operational changes at Scarborough's train depot

Author: Karen LiuPublished 31st Aug 2021

After more than a year of disruption a resident near Scarborough's train depot says it is a "tremendous relief" to get more than five hours sleep a night now.

Sue Rawson, 73, from the Weaponness area, lives 320 metres away from the Seamer Road facility and 25 metres above it.

We told you that TransPennine Express made operational changes to some trains around a fortnight ago.

Sue has been reacting to that and said:

"Due to 20 months of conditioning, I'm still waking up at just after 5 o'clock every morning. I think it'll take more than two weeks for me and my mental and physical self to actually relax enough. It's been a very stressful time.

"Obviously if they stop running that really noisy engine overnight between 11 o'clock and seven in the morning, which is what they said, then we're going to get more than five hours sleep a night in the future and that's a tremendous relief.

"I have come to understand why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture. You're obviously absolutely shattered so you're exhausted through the day. You try and go to sleep at 11 o'clock at night and you hear the engines starting again and they wake you up at five in the morning.

"It wore me down so much that if it woke me up at five in the morning or at quarter to five, I just burst into tears. I've had a pretty demanding and stressful career but the constant lack of sleep, it wears you out and you end up totally exhausted.

"Hopefully and eventually I'll be having a good night's sleep and that will totally change my whole day. I look forward to having a lot more energy and now I can only just hope for a much brighter, better and less anxious future.

The locomotives will now stop overnight at the railway station instead and Sue added:

"By putting two engines overnight in the station, as far as I can see, they're cutting down the length of time and the number of people they're annoying but they're not solving the problem. These trains are too noisy to be prepared and run near residents and visitors."

You can watch the full interview here, as she spoke to Greatest Hits Radio's Karen Liu:

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