London (Parliament Politics Magzine) – Lord Blunkett has urged an urgent assessment into what he characterised as “death trap” Tube platforms after he was wounded falling into a gap as he boarded a train at Westminster station.
According to the BBC, it occurred as the Labour Peer David Blunkett, who is blind, fell while getting onto a District line train with his guide dog last month. He wants Transport for London (TfL) to do better to ensure visually impaired individuals are kept safe.
I didn’t fully know what had happened. I felt enormous pain in both my legs; they were bruised and grazed.
the 77-year-old former home secretary and health secretary reported in the Sun.
How did Lord Plunkett highlight safety concerns?
Lord Blunkett, who functioned as the MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough between 1987 and 2015, stated:
“As I took a step to get on the Tube train, I suddenly felt both my feet disappearing down the gap. In an instant, my body had been pushed forward into the carriage, and I was face down on the floor. My legs had somehow been scraped out of the gap and into the carriage.”
He clarified that an X-ray verified “extraordinary bruising” but no broken leg, and he was “angry” about what had occurred. Lord Blunkett stated:
Whenever you step into a Tube station in London, you hear the tannoy warn people to mind the gap’. But too often there are no staff members to help you if, like me, you cannot see.
Moreover, Blunkett is urging TfL to fill the widest holes on platforms and make sure there is always someone there to support, especially during rush hour. He said
Some of our platforms are death traps. The gap between the walkway and train is huge and they are unsafe for everyone, but especially for blind people.
What actions is transport for London taking after Blunkett’s injury?
London Underground’s director of customer operations Nick Dent stated:
We were extremely sorry that Lord Blunkett was injured on our network. We have written to and will be meeting with, him to discuss how we could have managed the happening better and to ensure that lessons are learned.
The protection of our customers and attendants is at the forefront of everything we do, and while wounds like the one experienced by Lord Blunkett are rare, we are launching a huge range of work aimed at eliminating such incidents and making travelling even safer for everyone.