"For wheelchair user Nathan Rollinson, the lack of step-free access at Peckham Rye station in south-east London means he has to travel the long way round. "I finish work at midnight, 1am sometimes," he said. "By the time I get home, it can be 3 or 4am. Whereas if I had an accessible station to use, I could be home in 45 minutes.""
""But we can't get up the stairs at Peckham Rye station. So we now have to take a cab which costs 70 return just to go one day shopping. "If you tried carrying a heavy wheelchair up the stairs with the person in it impossible. It's not only people in wheelchairs, it's blind people, mothers with children and buggies, the elderly carrying heavy shopping."
Peckham Rye station does not have step-free access, causing wheelchair users and others to take lengthy detours, night buses or expensive taxis. Nathan Rollinson often gets home at 3–4am after late shifts because accessible lifts are unavailable. Planned lift installations were shelved after the Department for Transport cut funding and prioritised other projects. Terry Titheradge reports his wife's independence has declined since she began using a wheelchair and that the family now pays high taxi fares for routine shopping trips. The upgrade would have added a new entrance and lifts to every platform. The Department for Transport says the scheme will be kept under review as funding becomes available. Southwark Council plans a separate revamp of the station square.
Read at www.bbc.com
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