Travel Tales & Clovelly Park Station Confirmed INACCESSIBLE

In my travels today, I met more people who drive to other railway stations because the Tonsley timetable is inadequate. ADVENTURES ALIGHTING Continuing from yesterday’s update, I disregarded safety warnings from other wheelchair users and alighted at Clovelly Park Station to see what it is like with the new trains in 2017. It is true–Clovelly Park Station (Next to the Tonsley Innovation Precinct, Flinders University & Tonsley TAFE) is definitely not wheelchair friendly and I would not rate it as accessible to all. Despite the benign-looking platform, when the train doors opened today, I felt like I was sitting on the edge of an aircraft in flight, about to make a parachute jump! That platform was a loooong way down from the deck of the railcar. I don’t think I have ever seen a bigger gap between train and platform levels. It was very scary. Even the train driver looked nervous as he brought the portable ramp out for me to alight. The angle was extremely steep, similar to a playground slippery dip. To alight forwards, I would definitely fall out of my wheelchair but going backwards adds an extra level of difficulty. The train driver would normally secure the ramp with one foot to prevent it slipping off the railcar threshold. This time I needed the driver to stand behind me to steady my chair on the way down in case it too should slip. This is dangerous for both passenger and driver. It took a lot of upper arm strength and effort on my part to control the speed down the ramp. It was a relief for both of us when chair and passenger arrived safely on the platform. There’s no way for me to get back up that ramp at such a steep angle. I am physically incapable of doing that, working against gravity as well. I would be risking my own and the train driver’s safety by even trying. It is definitely not a viable option for this manual wheelchair user. I dare say, the large gap and high step between railcar and platform is also dangerous for visually-impaired people and difficult to negotiate for people of short stature. VERDICT & CONFIRMATION: CLOVELLY PARK STATION IS NOT WHEELCHAIR-ACCESSIBLE OR DISABILITY FRIENDLY. There’s a reason it was burned in my memory that Clovelly Park station was poor. It is a shame that the Department of Transport did not include an upgrade of Clovelly Park station in its Flinders Link design, especially since that will become the ‘end of the line’ while Flinders Link is being built and the station that Transport Minister Hon Stephen Mullighan expects Tonsley commuters to use instead. How could such an important safety detail be neglected? PHOTO: PARK & RIDE ACCESS (OR NOT) Today's photo is the pedestrian path between Clovelly Park Station and the Tonsley Innovation Precinct western carpark. The disability access parking bays are at the end of this long path. As you can see, the surface is unsealed and covered with fine gravel. (Is that what people call 'dolomite'?) This fine gravel has been known to get caught in the wheels and motors of electric wheelchairs causing damage and large repair bills. The ground was soft underneath my manual wheelchair. Had there been more rain or had my chair weighed more, there was a high likelihood of becoming bogged. How would the small wheels of a walker handle this terrain? How does the inconsistent surface affect those with vision impairments or people with joint problems? If these people were to drive to Clovelly Park station and use that Park and Ride right now, they would soon find out because this path is the main pedestrian access between carpark and station at the moment. On the left hand side of the photograph, there is a section of brown earth that was being graded today. Roadworkers plan to lay concrete paths there. They informed me that the paths were scheduled for completion in the new year (2018). Until then, these unsealed, soft pathways are not reliable routes for access to the Tonsley Innovation Precinct.