Another station hump installed

The fibre-glass “hump” trialled on the low platforms at Harrington (Cumbria) last year is now being tested at a busier, suburban station in St Albans. This is thought to indicate Network Rail’s trial means of affordably raising the level of a platform section worked well enough at a relatively quiet, rural station to be tested in a busier, suburban environment.

Passengers at Walkden will continue to watch the results of Harrington Hump trials with interest, as it is thought to offer our best hope of fixing the historically high and dangerous platform gap at Walkden.

FOWS have written to Network Rail to request that Walkden is prioritised if and when the “hump” is approved for national use.

“Mind That Gap” – the deadly risks of a wide platform gap

You may have seen the parents of Simon Slade interviewed on TV recently on the second anniversary of their son’s death at Gidea Park station. Simon, a fit, young Police Scene of Crime officer fell between the platform and train and lay unconcious on the track for 45 minutes before he was noticed – tragically it was too late to save his life by then.

The family have set up a safety campaign – Mind That Gap - to try and force the government and rail authorities to take the issue more seriously. It’s thought that 2 people died nationally as a result of similar accidents in 2008.

FOWS are aware of at least 2 incidents of passengers falling between the train and platform at Walkden in the last few years. Thankfully neither resulted in a fatality but the risk is there for all too see – except that is the railway safety bodies who insist that nothing can affordably be done.

FOWS deplore the attitude which continues to put passengers – particularly the frail and elderly – at risk. After our campaign to have the platform raised or tracks lowered failed, Northern Rail did at least promise to paint warnings on the platform edge, but one year one not even this has been done.

Disabled Access for Passengers at Walkden

FOWS get a lot of enquiries about access to Walkden station for disabled or mobility impaired passengers, so we’ve compiled this list of advice and handy information that we hope you will find useful.

All the information is correct to the best of our knowledge, but for clarification or further details please do check with Northern Rail (contact details below).

There are 42 stairs and a 17-inch step up to the trains at Walkden station – obstacles which can cause great discomfort to many passengers, and which prevent some people from getting to the trains at all. But did you know …

1) Northern Rail has a Disabled People’s Protection Policy (DPPP) which begins “Northern Rail Limited is committed to providing excellent customer care for disabled passengers, ensuring they enjoy the best possible access and journey comfort when travelling with us”

The DPPP is available in a variety of formats from Northern Customer Relations by calling 0845 600 8008 or text-phone 0845 604 5608 or can be downloaded from Northern’s website here

2) Atherton station has a lift from street level to the platform and is served by all trains that stop at Walkden.

3) By prior arrangement Northern Rail will provide a free taxi for disabled passengers to/from Atherton station.

Northern’s DPPP states “Where necessary we will provide an accessible form of road transport between an inaccessible station, and the nearest accessible station on the passenger’s desired route or intermediate point required by the passenger”.

Please call Northern Customer Relations to arrange this service giving 24-hours notice if possible (0845 600 8008 or text-phone 0845 604 5608).

4) Portable ramps are carried on all Northern Rail trains and staff have been instructed to deploy them for any passenger requesting assistance – you do not have to be in a wheelchair or registered disabled.

5) A Disabled Person’s Railcard costs £18 a year and entitles the holder and a travelling companion to a 33% discount on most rail fares

Technology trial offers hope for platform gap

This week’s RAIL magazine reports that a new technology is being Harrington station in Cumbria to address the problem of platforms with very large gaps between platform and train height. The trial uses a reinforced plastic “hump” which can be attached to the platform to assist access on to and off of trains.

The story is also covered on Cumbria’s local council website.

Crucially in this cash-strapped age, Network Rail hope that if the trial is successful the technology may enable a platform to be modified for around £25,000 – that’s just 10% of the cost of raising a low platform using traditional building means.

FOWS keep up the good work … now it’s Network Rail’s turn !

This morning FOWS volunteers have been tidying and weeding the station. Picking up the remains of other folks’ suppers and cleaning curry sauce from the walls is not a lot of fun, but FOWS give their time freely just to try and make the station something to be proud of.

Their dedication contrasts with neglect of the station owners Network Rail … the station roof has been leaking for months, the internal walls are stained and filthy, paintwork in the entrance hall is many years old and peeling, there are even plants growing from the upper reaches of the walls and rotting roof !

Meanwhile up on the platform the stepping gap remains dangerously and uncomfortably large, and there’s no sign of progress on the platform lengthening works that Network Rail agreed to assess several months ago.

FOWS call on Network Rail to get their act together at Walkden and start taking better care of their property.

Read Barbara Keeley’s speech on Walkden and the TIF

The full text of Worsley MP Barbara Keeley’s recent speech, which opened the parliamentary debate on Manchester’s TIF bid, can be read online here.

Ms Keeley eloquently describes the problems at Walkden station in detail, as well as other problems with the inaccessibility and poor provision of public transport in our area.

As Ms Keeley quite rightly says “There is only limited use of rail networks through Atherton and Walkden for commuting into Manchester, because the services are overcrowded and subject to other problems, too. Express trains from Atherton do not stop at Walkden, because of the limited length of the platform. The two-carriage trains that do stop there tend to be full, and 30, 40 or more people are regularly left there in the morning peak hour, because they cannot get on the overcrowded trains.”

“Access to Walkden station is poor. There are two flights of stairs and no lift. The facilities are outdated and the station infrastructure is in urgent need of renewal. There are no car-parking facilities at the station apart from parking in nearby residential streets.”

Ms Keeley’s speech is well worth reading for anyone who has an interest in the TIF bid – which should mean all users of Walkden station ! – and FOWS are very grateful for her continuing fight to secure improvements at Walkden.

Office of Rail Regulation say Walkden platform gap only ‘medium risk’

For the past year FOWS have been campaigning for Network Rail to address the dangerously large gap between the platform edge and train doorways at Walkden. The unusually high and wide step has seen several people slip terrifyingly between platform and train over the past few years, and presents a massive barrier to elderly, disabled, or mobility impaired passengers.

Network Rail have acknowledged that the ‘stepping distance’ at Walkden is outside current safety standards, but say they don’t have to fix it as it’s an historic problem they’ve inherited.

After Network Rail’s refusal to act FOWS turned to the government’s rail watchdog -  the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). Our first letter was met with a standard reply suggesting there are many stations around the country in a similar condition. We wrote again to stress exactly how large the gaps was at Walkden (it has been measured at 17 inches) and the fact that people have fallen onto the track on several occasions.

Our second letter prompted a site visit by the local safety inspectorate who – amazingly – classified the risk as ‘low’ on one platform and ‘medium’ on the other. On the basis of this the only action is planned is painting ‘Mind the gap’ on the platform and continuing the ‘low platform’ announcements on trains. While these measures may marginally mitigate the risk of an accident, they do nothing at all to help those passengers who struggle to – or simply cannot – board or disembark from trains because of the high step.

We urge all passengers affected by this problem to write to Customer Services at Northern Rail. As tenants of Network Rail, they are in the best position to ask for improvements from Network Rail – if enough complaints are received from passengers.

Platform Gap Fall at Greenfield

We were alarmed to see the story in yesterday’s Manchester Evening News about a passenger who fell between the platform edge and train at Greenfield station. Thankfully he wasn’t seriously injured but he could easily have been.

FOWS know of at least two similar incidents at Walkden in the last few years and have written to Northern, GMPTE, Network Rail and even the Office of Rail Regulation to ask for the platform to be raised. The official line seems to be that Network Rail are responsible for maintaining safe stations – but have no obligation to remedy this problem (which they acknowledge exists) until “other station improvements” are planned.

FOWS believe this is an irresponsible attitude which presents passengers with a dangerous and uncomfortable challenge when they board or alight the train.

FOWS escalate safety concerns over platform height

Users of Walkden station will undoubtedly have noticed the unusually high step from the platform into the train doorway. Previously FOWS have written to GMPTE, Northern Rail and Network Rail themselves to ask Network Rail (the owners of the station) to fix the problem. Since Network Rail have refused to take remedial action, FOWS have escalated the issue to the Office of Rail Regulation, the government-appointed body with overall responsibility for rail safety.

FOWS believe the situation is not only highly inconvenient but also presents a serious danger to passengers. In the past few years passengers have fallen into the gap between the train and platform on at least two occasions. We understand that a possible solution would be to take out some the ballast (the stones) from beneath the track, but Network Rail declined to do this when the line was closed for engineering works earlier this summer.

Does Walkden’s low platform cause you a problem ?

Despite requests from both Northern Rail and GMPTE, Network Rail did not address the problem of the very high step between platform and train during the recent engineering works. FOWS believe this is a serious concern for station users: not only as a major inconvenience for elderly or mobility impaired passengers, but as a safety risk to all.

FOWS and GMPTE are escalating the problem within Network Rail and we would like to hear from you at our email address (friends@walkdenstation.org.uk) if you have experienced difficulty – or even fallen – whilst boarding or disembarking at Walkden.