A renewed push for lifts to be installed at Sunbury’s rail station is being made by the town’s Resident’s Association, it’s launched a physical and online petition that together have so far attracted more than 1,400 signatures.
Calls for lifts to be installed at the station have been made for years, eliciting little support from the powers that be – with ‘site constraints’ blamed for the inaction.
Nevertheless, Graham Williams, president of the Sunbury Residents Association, says there are plenty of examples of lifts being retrofitted to stations up and down the Sunbury line.
He is not put off by past failures to convince those in power to bring the station up to scratch.
“People tell me they struggle to get across the bridge using a wheelchair,” says Mr Williams.
“But the fact is, nothing is built today that doesn’t include an elevator for accessibility. But here we have a rail station in a growing town and there is restricted accessibility.
“Residents have to either use a series of steep stairs, or very long ramps, making access difficult for those with limited mobility and those pushing prams.
“All other major stations on the Sunbury line have been recently redeveloped to incorporate elevators – leaving Sunbury as the legacy station.”
Mr Williams says while the lack of action to date is disappointing, his organisation won’t stop advocating for elevators to be installed.
“For some reason government just does not want to spend the money in Sunbury,” he says. “But we will continue pushing for them.”
Cllr Trevor Dance is to raise the issue at a meeting of Hume City Council on Monday 15 April.
Of those who have signed the online petition, comments include:
- As a person who relies on crutches to walk, stairs are extremely difficult to manage.
- It is difficult for elderly people to climb the stairs or ramps to cross.
- The whole station needs revamping. People in wheelchairs just can’t get up the ramps on their own.
- Having several medical conditions makes it very difficult for me to climb the stairs or walk up the long ramps if I have to change sides to catch a Vline train to get home.
- The current ramp is not safe for those mobility impaired. An elevator would be equitable for those people that cannot walk long distances, have health conditions, prams, wheelchairs etc. Making mobility impaired people climb the current ramp is actually unfair.
