Pokesdown station: Calls grow for station lifts after falls

21 October 2021

News image — Passengers have to negotiate 42 steep steps between the platforms and street level

BBC Pokesdown station — Passengers have to negotiate 42 steep steps between the platforms and street level

Campaigners are calling for urgent action to improve access at a railway station amid reports of passengers being injured falling down the stairs.

At least two people have reported broken bones after falling on the steep steps at Pokesdown, near Bournemouth.

South Western Railway (SWR) had been due to reinstate lifts at the station by December 2019 as part of its rail franchise agreement.

It said it was in talks with the local council about funding for the scheme.

Amber Titley, 18, was travelling to college last month when she fell, fracturing her elbow and coccyx.

She said: "No one was around to help. I had to get up on my own.

"I've had to stop doing my college course and I've had to stop sailing, which is upsetting."

George Farquhar Jacky Dempsey (right) with her friend Anne Cassels on the stairs at Pokesdown — Jacky Dempsey (right) returned to the station with a friend after her accident

Jacky Dempsey, 67, also fell in May 2019, breaking both her arms and injuring her head. She says it affected her speech and means she will never regain normal movement in her wrist.

"I'm still not recovered. I still have flashbacks," she said.

An SWR spokesman said: "These incidents reinforce the need for accessibility improvements at the station, which we are working hard to secure.

"A funding proposal is currently with the council for approval in principle. We hope to have positive news in the near future."

George Farquhar Councillor George Farquhar at Pokesdown Station — Boscombe East and Pokesdown councillor George Farquhar has been campaigning for lifts

SWR previously said degradation of the lifts shafts meant £1.6m initially allocated for the work was insufficient.

Boscombe East and Pokesdown councillor George Farquhar said: "It is time for the local authority to match fund the money available to SWR and Network Rail and get these lifts installed."

A Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council spokesman said the authority was "working hard" to ensure SWR fulfilled its "longstanding commitment" to install lifts at the station.