There are fears a ‘two and a half foot’ gap between train and platform at Dundee Railway Station could lead to serious injury.
Dundee resident Peter Hazell compared the ramp staff tried to install to bridge the gap for his elderly mother to a ski jump ramp.
He said Irene, 83, had “no chance” of getting down the sharp incline.
“When they put the ramp on Eddie the Eagle would have been proud of going down it,” said Peter, 58.
“You would need to be a mountain goat to get up that.
“And they couldn’t secure it because the angle was too steep.
“She had no chance. There would have been an accident if we’d tried to get her down.”
Gap is a hazard for all passengers
Peter went to meet Irene off the 2pm train from London King’s Cross earlier this month.
Irene travelled up with Peter’s wife Lesley, 63. They arrived in Dundee shortly before 8pm.
But when they went to alight from the train they were faced with a gap of around two and a half feet.
Irene eventually did get off the train after being led to another carriage, where there was less of a gap at the platform.
The octogenarian was not the only passenger who struggled to negotiate the gap says Peter.
Others, including Lesley, got into difficulty.
Peter said Lesley had to sit down on the carriage floor and manoeuvre herself down off the train, with his help.
And he warns that the huge gulf between train and platform is a hazard for all passengers, not just those with mobility issues.
“Mum’s fine but somebody may not be so lucky.
“This is an issue with health and safety.
“People are having to sit on their bottoms and lower themselves down to the platform.
“It’s farcical.
“Somebody is going to get either seriously hurt or killed if they fall between the train and the platform.”
Rush to get the train moving
While Irene struggled to get off the train, Peter said it appeared staff were under pressure to get the train moving on schedule.
“They were like startled rabbits. They didn’t know what to do.
“And the guy at at the bottom of the platform kept flashing his light and blowing his whistle.
“But I told them that they needed to let her walk through the train.
“I encouraged them to take her down to another carriage, otherwise I don’t know what would have happened.”
How has LNER responded?
Service operator LNER said it had contacted Peter and was investigating the issue.
The company expressed “disappointment the journey experience on this occasion appears not to have been to our usual high standards we strive to deliver.”
A spokesperson for LNER added: “The safety of our customers and colleagues is always our top priority.”
Meanwhile, Network Rail said it would “review the stepping distances at the platform”.
A spokesperson added: “We regularly invest in our infrastructure to make it more accessible and upgraded platforms at 10 stations across Scotland, including Broughty Ferry, ahead of the introduction of the new East Coast mainline trains.”
