Disability bridge is like "skiing the Alps”

 

And in a stern address to fellow AM’s at the Welsh Assembly, Mr George said that one local electric wheelchair user told him that crossing Welshpool station’s disability bridge was “akin to skiing down the Alps”.

 

Mr George said it was the responsibility of all politicians to ensure disabled people had both the opportunity and ability to lead more independent lives and for many people, the accessibility of public transport was one of the greatest challenges faced on a daily basis.

 

He said: “It is quite incredible that only eight per cent of railway stations in Wales are disabled friendly – that is just 16 out of 220 railway stations that have wheelchair access to the platform, accessible toilets and wheelchair access to the train.

 

“In Montgomeryshire, a number of railway stations are inaccessible to people who are disabled. Trying to get over some of the railway bridges, like the one in Newtown which is only accessible by sets of steps

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“Even in those stations that are deemed to have reasonable access like Welshpool which has had a set of ramps installed in recent years, the gradient of the ramps are so steep that they can’t be negotiated without considerable help. One constituent told me that she could not even make the crossing in her powerful electric wheelchair and that it was akin to ‘skiing down the Alps’.

 

“There is no getting away from it, we as politicians must do better. Upgrading our public transport infrastructure, particularly our railway stations, needs to be part of a package of measures to help disabled people to live more independent lives.”