Metrolink passenger with cerebral palsy left stuck on platform for an hour

A wheelchair user was forced to wait at a tram stop for more than an hour because of a broken lift.

Ashley Armstrong, a 28-year-old from Walkden, arrived at the Heaton Park tram stop in Manchester on Sunday 24 March to find the lift was broken. As a wheelchair user, he was unable to use the stairs.

Despite repeatedly pressing the passenger assistance button and calling the helpline, no Metrolink staff came to assist him.

He said: "It was stressful. It was very inconvenient really. I was sat there pressing the button that you would expect to be working and I got no answer."

After an hour of waiting, Ashley gave up and got on another tram to the next stop. He then came back on himself and used the lift on the other side.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has apologised about Ashley's experience, explaining that the lift at Heaton Park tram stop had been 'vandalised' on 10 March. The transport authority said that the lift has now been fixed and is working again.

But Ashley believes there should have been a message on the board at Piccadilly warning him about the issue.

He has also questioned why no one answered when he pressed the passenger assistance button on the platform, asking: "What is the point? There also should be a message on the lines with lifts at tram stops when lifts are out of order.

"People in wheelchairs or people with mobility issues and prams should not have to find this out the hard way such as when they get to their destination."

TfGM’s head of Metrolink Danny Vaughan said: "We are sorry to hear about the issues faced by this customer, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

"We have now passed on the details of this customers experience to the Metrolink operator so they can investigate."

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