Two wheelchair users have this week showed rail and council bosses the struggles they face when attempting to use Highbridge Railway Station due to ongoing accessibility issues.
The two ladies took them on the long route they have to follow when changing platforms at Highbridge Railway Station during their visit on Tuesday (January 28th) accompanied by town councillors plus representatives from GWR, Network Rail, Somerset Council, Our Highbridge and the town’s MP Ashley Fox.
The visit comes amid a fresh push to gain funding for upgrades to the railway station’s facilities to make them more accessible for all travellers and encourage more use.
Taz Haysham, a local wheelchair user, says that to switch platforms, she cannot use the railway station’s footbridge so has to head out of the station, cross the busy road in an area with no pedestrian crossing, then wheel up the steep, poorly maintained pavement over Walrow road bridge, cross the road on the other side, before heading along a dark, partially-overgrown path that leads to the eastern platform.
“If I’m travelling on my own, I would never manage to get between platforms,” she told Burnham-On-Sea.com. “With steep slopes and poor quality pavements, it’s like an obstacle course.”
And Laura Chalmers, who uses a mobility scooter, adds: “Access is a real problem here – the poor accessibility restricts where people can go and means you have to plan in advance if you want to use the station. A gold standard upgrade would be a lift across the platforms, or an alternative would be a ramp over the tracks to make it easier to cross platforms.”
Town councillor Lesley Millard said: “The Town Council was really pleased to gather GWR, Network Rail and Somerset Council together to identify the accessibility problems at Highbridge Station and to seek to improve the railway bridge and footbridge that is the only route for some people to get from one platform to another.”
“We were grateful for the presence of Laura and Taz who showed us all how difficult it is to access the station in a wheelchair. We are all committed to work together to find a solution and have begun work on an action plan that will identify short and long term goals.”
Mark Stanistreet from Somerset Council said the authority is “fully supportive” of what the group is trying to achieve.
Further meetings are being planned in coming weeks.
Pictured: The visit to Highbridge Rail Station on Tuesday where the wheelchair users followed the route across the platformsÂ
