Lib Dems call for disabled access to Levenshulme Railway Station

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 19th Sep 2006

Levenshulme Liberal Democrats are calling for Action to make their local Railway Station More Accessible

Levenshulme Councillor John Commons, speaking this week at the Lib Dem National Conference in Brighton, called for urgent action by Transport Bosses to ensure decent disabled access at Levenshulme Train Station.

John told a packed meeting on transport issues:

"It is a disgrace that anyone arriving in Levenshulme by train in a wheelchair finds themselves stranded on the platform, facing over 20 steps and no lift. It means that wheelchair users and indeed many elderly people in Levenshulme are unable to access trains for Levenshulme Railway Station."

Local Liberal Democrats in Levenshulme find it a bit strange that is the situation is allowed to continue and, led by Councillor John Commons, they are calling for extra investment in access to Levenshulme. John continued:

"I believe that the current situation is completely unacceptable and I believe it contradicts the Disability Discrimination Act which will now apply to Public Transport."

Fellow Levenshulme Councillor Keith Whitmore, a member of the Greater Manchester Transport Authority, said:

"I agree wholeheartedly with John's call for urgent action. I have travelled to third world countries with better facilities than Levenshulme. The failure to tackle the access problems should shame local transport bosses and this needs sorting out as soon as possible."

Ends

Update:

In October 2006, Councillor John Commons was also appointed by Manchester City Council to be a member of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority