A man was left stranded miles from his home after being directed to the wrong Merseyrail station.
Andrew Yates, from Wavertree, had been out in town with his carer to have a drink and listen to a band, as he does every Tuesday.
After the gig ended the 53-year-old headed to Liverpool Central on Tuesday, July 16, shortly after 11 pm.
Here, the wheelchair user told Merseyrail staff the two of them were travelling to St Michael’s. Andrew claims they were allowed to pass through the barrier and continue down onto the platform without any issues.
But when they arrived at St Michael’s station, Andrew discovered the lift was out of service and ‘immediately panicked’.
He said he knew there was ‘no other way’ of getting onto the footbridge level – essentially leaving him ‘stuck on the platform’ below.
Andrew claims he was told the lift at St Michael’s had been broken for three days at this point.
The staff on duty reportedly advised Andrew and his carer to continue travelling to South Parkway on the last train of the evening as this was the only way for him to get back to ground level.
Andrew, who lives near Aigburth, told the Liverpool Echo: ‘I was very reluctant as I was already aware, knowing the time, that there would be no trains or buses going back towards home, and I would be travelling further away, but it was either that or be stranded on St Michael’s platform.’
Once at South Parkway, Andrew was unable to get a taxi home as due to his height and being in a wheelchair he is unable to fit under the door. He said, at this point, it was clear there ‘was a bit of loss of what could be done’.
He added: ‘After much deliberation and realising there was not going to be a solution to get me home, I reluctantly resorted to the final and only option of walking home. We travelled approximately a 3.5-mile journey back to my home which took us over an hour.
‘My carer is a very young woman, she is only 24 and I consider myself to be a vulnerable person. I didn’t feel comfortable being out at this time in the morning. At 2am anywhere can be unsafe. It really messed me up and I was so frustrated.’
In light of Andrew’s experience, Merseyrail said it was looking to see what improvements could be made to ensure situations like this don’t happen again.
Greg Suligowski, head of customer strategy,said: ‘We were very disappointed to hear about Andrew’s experience whilst travelling with us and since receiving his complaint we have been carrying out a detailed investigation into what went wrong.
‘Whilst we have dedicated plans in place to provide alternative travel arrangements where access to a station is temporarily reduced, it’s clear from Andrew’s experience that these did not work during his journey. We have contacted Andrew to offer a personal apology and to discuss his complaint in more detail.’
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