TWO BIG PROBLEMS …

With steep stairs between ground floor and platform, access is challenging and risky for all.
But the steps pose particular problems for persons with restricted mobility, such as people with child buggies, bicycles or heavy baggage, and for elderly passengers and others with walking or balance disabilities.
Wheelchair access is totally impossible. GTR’s decision to install new ticket barriers before the stairs, during the 2016 ‘modernisation’ of the station, also meant that passengers struggling with access were less able to gain assistance from non-ticket holders or station staff.

Access to the platform is via a steep and narrow staircase.
The layout is not compliant withtoday’s standards for width, handrail and level landing facilities at the top and the bottom.
Accidental slippages and falls could easily occur, especially at congested rush-hour periods and during Winter, where the lighting levels are poor.
And emergency evacuation, if ever required, could almost certainly not be achieved in the timescale required by modern regulations.
So the current layout is at odds with GTR’s public commitment that “Safety is the foundation on which we build our railway”.