I’ve had pain in my left leg for a few weeks. A physio is advising me on it, and while it’s unclear what’s caused it, it’s improving.
Essentially it means I have difficulty bending my left leg at the hip. It means I’m limping a bit, and I have difficulty climbing up steps and steep ramps.
I’d always hope I was already aware of accessibility issues in public spaces (including public transport), but this has emphasised it to me.
Steps are difficult, especially going up, and cause some pain, including stepping up into high floor trams. A single step into a train or a low-floor bus is okay – I just aim to make the step with the other leg.
Going up old railway station ramps can cause some pain. The gentler newer DDA-compliant ramps are fine.
My leg pain will pass (hopefully soon!), and it’s mostly a mild inconvenience.
But plenty of people are not so lucky, and work needs to continue apace to improve accessibility in all public spaces.
16 replies on “Limping”
Itโs unfortunate that you have to experience the difficulties of public transport when you are incapacitated itโs worse trying to get on a tram in a wheelchair
Hopefully you leg improves.
Meanwhile users are being inconvenienced by lifts at Union Station continue to stop working when the temperature reached 35C forcing people to walk entire length of platform to use other lifts. Stairs are not an option for some people
Sorry to hear about your leg.
“A physio is advising me” …
I strongly encourage you to see a doctor about this, if you haven’t already.
Good luck with it!
As an old fart I can attest that getting old isnโt for sissies.
Hope you get better soon but get a heating pad and some tiger balm yer gonna need it.
Join the club Daniel, but hopefully for you it’s just temporary, not permanent like for those of us who’ve passed a certain time in life. On the positive side, it’s a great opportunity to test accessibility in public transport for those with what they term “hidden disabilities”.
Talking from a NSW perspective, our trams are fine, but the downsides are double deck trains and buses with stairs at the door (Bustech, which I think you have luckily escaped in Victoria) and/or stairs inside the bus. With all these, they claim that there’s a minimum accessible area, but that doesn’t help when that area is full, particularly in peaks.
As for stations and such facilities, fortunately NSW has had an accessibility program of works running for some years and substantial gains have been made. The advent of metro has brought radical improvement for trains, our trams are all low-floor and even ferries are accessible.
The bus scene is still very poor, but you should note the advent of two electric bus models that have a fully stepless floor – the Custom Denning Element and the Volvo BZL, both of which operate in Melbourne. One would hope that these are a catalyst for change, but TfNSW and operators are still sticking stubbornly to buses with stairs. Perhaps Victoria might consider taking the lead there. Here’s your opportunity as a lobbyist!
Hi Danial,
I know the PTUA is in favour of the SRL, but don’t you think that with the state broke, for many years to come, the money would be better spent on bringing accessibility up to the legislation for 2022, and 2032 ASAP, I would guesstimate about $6b, and spending the rest on Medical facilities. It doesn’t look like the federal government will be handing over the $2.2b (?) or any more anytime soon, is ever!
Tony, wouldn’t busses with no accessible entry be against DSAPT legislation?
@Robert Smith Buses are required by law to have a minimum of one stepless entry only – at the front. Bustech has been building buses that comply with this minimum standard, but have stairs at other doors. Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide and Canberra have buses like this. A couple of these cities allow entry by other doors. In addition, most buses have stairs inside in the aisle. My point is that stairs in general make access and movement difficult for people with mobility issues. The front entry is simply not adequate provision for mobility. Stairs also reduce the efficiency and safety of the vehicle.
@roger, yes, have spoken to a doctor, but the physio is proving more relevant.
@Tony, buying buses with only one step-free doorway seems like a very very bad idea!
@Robert, I think it’s important to keep SRL in perspective. If you’re a PTUA member, check your latest newsletter for a good article on this.
In summary – it’s not a $200b project, it never was.
The total current spending commitment is $7.3b … Still a lot of money, but that’s over several years, and if you’re worried about that, you should be more worried about North East Link, costing $26b (with a $10b overrun) – and with far more negative outcomes for our city.
I can relate. I hurt myself on a kickabout last year and while recovering, I realised those ramps at the MATH stations and at Werribee feels steeper than they should be.
I would imagine stations with non-DDA compliant ramps and Heyington really need to be retrofitted with lifts if possible, or have those ramps fixed someday.
There shouldn’t be a single step into a train this century. The platforms should be raised to match modern train floor levels instead of catering for Swing Door carriages dating back to the 1880s. Even Flinders Street fails this and forces drivers to get out the wheelchair ramps.
Half the platforms need complete resurfacing anyway as the asphalt dating back to the VicRail era has either worn out and is crumbling away or uneven, or there’s a massive gap between the platform and the train, or the platforms are sloping towards the tracks, or the platform is getting lost between the lichen and the moss (roof roof), or there are more tactile ground surface indicators (TGSIs) on the tracks than the platform (why are they not actual tiles like Flinders Street or Box Hill?).
As for Heyington, just close it down and let all the born millionaires from St Kevin’s walk all the way (like 300m!) to Kooyong or the 58 tram instead, if they haven’t yet received a Lamborghini for their 18th birthday. The extra minute saved will make up for having to slow down over the practically heritage-listed tram square that cannot be grade separated in our lifetime. (time to add a /s just in case)
As of today, the new lifts at Flinders Street Station are open, finally providing a second accessible way on and off the platforms. Although they appear quite narrow and may still be inaccessible to some.
That looks like South Yarra Station, which I post about this week, https://fromthehighrise.blogspot.com/2025/02/my-railway-station-for-now.html
While it is not really a problem for me yet (I stop half way and check the times of 58 trams), it certainly was for my late partner. The second busiest suburban station, and it does not have a lift.
@Heihachi_73, Heyington should just get a new overpass and lifts from street level. It can’t be that hard.
@Andrew Cee, correct it’s South Yarra.
The other notable ones with non-compliant ramps are Richmond and Caulfield, and of course there’s plenty of other less busy stations that need DDA upgrades.
@tony, I am a bi-lateral amputee and fully understand trying to use a bus with a wheelchair, and yes it would be much better if Victorian buses were designed like London buses with the accessible entrance at the back door. Also some drivers don’t know how to kneel the bus and it feels like jumping off a cliff when exiting the bus.
@Danial, @Heihachi_73, with a bit of earth works, and a little compulsory land acquisition, there couldn’t be ramps at Heyington.
@Danial, I was not thinking about the full cost of the SRL, the present budget for SRL East is around $35b of which ~$14b is available ($11.5 & $2.2) remove the $6 – 7b to pause the project after the signed contracts are fulfilled that leaves $7b that would go a long way on other required transport infrastructure. And if the federal government would allocate the $11b the Vic government want from them for the SRL, electrification to Wyndham Vale and Melton could proceed .
@Heihachi_73 regrading train stations and tram squares, yes the bitichimum need to be replaced at a lot of stations, I use Glenferrie in a wheelchair at least once a week (out then back) one platform has been upgraded, but the main 2 the surface has many potholes and cracking. As for Kooyong tram square, blame sits fairly at the governments feet, even though they were offered a substantial portion of he cost to fix the crossing by the LNP before the last federal election, it is still not on the list, even though peak hour traffic banks back past Toorak Rd and past Scotch College.