Peartree's remote gate lock was derived from a 2 fold problem - one, youths kicking about causing trouble (as booked) and two, it was a suicide black spot with people coming and sitting in a lonely, dreary location contemplating the end, finding absolutely no hope or positivity and certainly no humanity to talk them out of it and then going through with the deed far too often. The latter was by far the bigger imperative for fitting the locks.
Said locks occasionally go wrong and more than once I've been working the Crewe bound service in the evening and heard hollering from the gate when the intercom has failed and the intending passenger has been unable to get in.
The station is on too busy a mainline to receive many calls and has been left behind by time in terms of it's original purpose. A handful of regulars do use it but I was always surprised it wasn't shut with the rest of the Sinfin branch.
It is a contrast with Spondon, which has a fairly solid core of commuter traffic during peak times but no interest during the rest of the day.