Second mishap with train ramp

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Muscular dystrophy sufferer Tim Dempsey hopes to meet Tranz Metro today to discuss lessons for staff who left him to crawl on his hands and knees on to a train.

He says the need for extra training was reinforced yesterday in a second incident in which a wheelchair ramp was put down for him, but the wrong way round.

This followed a furore after the Herald reported a train manager's refusal to provide a ramp for Mr Dempsey at a West Auckland station - because he was not in a wheelchair and his train was running late.

Mr Dempsey, 33, who is the Muscular Dystrophy Association's fundraising manager and has difficulty walking with a stick, dropped to his knees to get on a crowded carriage.

Tranz Metro Auckland manager Paul Ashton was to have met him yesterday, but pulled out at short notice, blaming publicity over his plight and the Auckland Regional Council's signing of a contract for new operator Connex to take over rail services.

Although Connex will run Auckland services from July for the council, Mr Dempsey wants to pursue his association's offer of disability training for staff who will be offered jobs with the new operator.

He said Mr Ashton, who has begun an investigation but refused to expand on comments made earlier to the Herald, had rescheduled the meeting for today.

Mr Dempsey was pleased a metal ramp was provided when he went to catch a train yesterday, but said he had to tell staff how to install it. "They put it around backwards - it couldn't be clipped in properly."

An unidentified Tranz Metro employee said in an email that the earlier train manager's attitude was wrong but claimed using the ramp on a crowded train was a cumbersome task which took several minutes and meant getting passengers to move.

"This would have delayed the already-late train considerably, whilst embarrassing the man by having him as the cause for a long delay in front of hundreds of customers."

The worker said Mr Dempsey could have avoided this by simply asking fellow passengers to help him.

But Mr Dempsey said it was dangerous in his muscle-wasting condition to accept such help, as he needed to ensure his knees were locked tight.

He said disruption would be minimised if the ramp were stationed next to the door designated for disabled passengers, rather than several seats back.

Urban bus operators agreed in 1995 - in the face of legal action threatened by the Human Rights Commission - that all new or refurbished buses in their core fleet be made wheelchair-accessible with "super-low" floors.

Bus and Coach Association executive director John Collyns said operators had since invested $134 million in such buses, and about 65 per cent of the urban bus fleet would be accessible within three years.

He said that although only a "handful" of people in wheelchairs used buses, the lower vehicles were a boon for many others with movement difficulties such as parents with children and the elderly.

"Our industry has spent a lot to comply with the Human Rights Act and we would expect competing forms of public transport to do so as well," he said.

The regional council says newly refurbished rail carriages due to start arriving in Auckland next month will have several features for passengers with mobility impairments, including sturdy handles, wide doors, priority seating and room for guide dogs.

Russell Turnbull of Stagecoach Auckland said about 40 per cent of its 630 buses were wheelchair-accessible, including all those on Link services and a cross-town hospital route.


DISABILITY ACTION

The Human Rights Commission will begin public hearings next month in an inquiry into the accessibility of public land transport.

This follows what it calls a significant number of complaints alleging deficiencies in parts of the public transport system, even though it has been unlawful since 1994 to discriminate against disabled passengers.