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 The facilities are outdated and the station infrastructure is in urgent need of renewal.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.

Engineering closure - still waiting for details

As advertised in the Booking Office the entire Atherton line will be closed from 25 August to 3 September while Network Rail carry out engineering works.

Network Rail have been asked to lower the height of the tracks at Walkden (to reduce the high step onto the trains) but we don’t yet know whether they will do it or not. There are no further details on the National Rail website yet, nor information about the bus replacement services.