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Anorak News | Manchester Train Guard Won’t Put Ramp Out For Disabled Man (Video)

Manchester Train Guard Won’t Put Ramp Out For Disabled Man (Video)

by | 25th, August 2010

MR Qamar Khaliq is in a wheelchair at Manchester Piccadilly asking a guard to pull the ramp down so he can board a train to Guide Bridge in Audenshaw. The journey takes 10 minutes. But because the guard would not help it took him two hours. Mr Khaliq has spinal muscular atrophy.

Mr Khaliq then filmed the guard. He is entitled to do this. But the guard says he can’t. The guard seems to be more interested in his image rights than the job he is being asked to do. The guard seems more au fait with the law than he does with the needs of passenger.

Northern Rail has apologised and says it will investigate. And thanks to Mr Khaliq they now have video footage to go with the undoubted CCTV footage they take of you – without your express permission.

As it says on the Northern Rail website:

Northern recognises the importance of customer security and has measures in place to make customers feel secure, which includes a combination of British Transport Police patrols, Northern Rail Response Team patrols, stations lighting, CCTV and ‘help points’ or public telephones.

CCTV is important. Smile for the cameras. They might record your accident:

Approximately 83,548,000 passenger journeys were made on Northern train services in 2008, during which 76 customers incurred accidents that resulted in hospital treatment…

The majority of these were falls, the three main causes being missed footing when boarding or alighting the train, falling when running to catch a train or on stairways or slipping due to wet floors or icy platforms.

So getting on the train is the most dangerous part of the journey, then?

Says Mr Khaliq:

“I always arrive at least 10 minutes early to ensure I can get helped on the train without a problem. There were no platform staff around and I could not see a train guard. A passenger on the train got up to help me and knocked on the guard’s window to say there was a man in a wheelchair who needed help.

“When I asked for his assistance he made a no sign at me and said ‘I can’t take you, you will have to get the next one’. When I asked him why he refused to answer me and then refused to speak at all and just ignored me.” Mr Khaliq started to film the guard’s reaction. “Another train guard even yelled at me as I left saying the police would be coming and they would take my mobile phone off me for filming it.”

They didn’t because Mr Khaliq did not break the law. He was not in the wrong as the guard insisted he was. He was within his rights…

Update: the guard has been suspended. The other man in the film who also did not withdraw the ramp is still working.



Posted: 25th, August 2010 | In: Reviews Comments (11) | TrackBack | Permalink