Act now to save lives at stations

URGENT action is being demanded to make railway station platforms safer for people with sight loss.

The call comes after the death of a blind man, killed by a train and figures that show people with sight loss make up 15% of those who fall from station platforms.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People wants tactile paving – which enables visually impaired passengers to know where the end of the platform is – to be installed at all stations in Britain.

Cleveland Gervais fell from a platform at Eden Park station in South London, with a report finding that the lack of tactile paving at the edge of the platform was a likely key factor in his death.

The report, from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, also found that railway stations expose people with sight loss to “significantly higher levels of risk than the general public”.