Criticism as station lift sees repeated breakdowns

Public announcements about the problem have been made at Wakefield Westgate Station

A rail operator has said it is urgently working to repair a station lift that has seen repeated breakdowns for several weeks.

LNER said the lift at Wakefield Westgate Station had encountered "maintenance issues".

The failure means wheelchair users have no step-free access to Platform 2, where trains depart for Leeds, York and Newcastle.

A regional disabled group said the issue was "not uncommon" at stations and warned operators could be breaching equality legislation if they failed to meet accessibility requirements.

LNER said an initial problem with the lift had been repaired, but further issues had since come to light, leaving it unusable.

The company did not confirm exactly when the lift was initially broken when asked by the BBC, but public announcements about the problem have been repeatedly heard at the station recently.

Jackie Snape, chief executive at Disabled Action Yorkshire, said such issues had a "major impact" on people with disabilities who relied on public transport.

LNER, which operates the station, did not confirm when the lift first broke down

She said: "Unfortunately this is not uncommon.

"Lifts do break down and I think everyone accepts that, but it does seem that in some circumstances there is no real urgency to resolve the situation.

"For a disabled person travel can involve an awful lot of planning and when those plans fall through it can have devastating effects.

"When there is no apparent urgency to rectify the situation or to make reasonable adjustments whilst the lift is out of order then the operator does lay themselves open to a claim for breach of the Equality Act."

A spokesperson for LNER said engineers had been on site on 13 December and that the firm was "working closely with Network Rail to resolve the issue as soon as possible".

They added: "Unfortunately, we have encountered maintenance issues with the Platform 2 lift at Wakefield Westgate Station. While the initial fault was rectified and the lift has been functional, another issue has now been detected.

"We are supporting customers during this time providing additional assistance and thank them for their understanding."

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