I fell through a ‘death trap’ Tube gap – stations in London need to be safer

Lord Blunkett wants action to be taken on ‘death trap’ tube platforms after he was injured falling into the gap.

The Labour peer, who is blind, slipped while getting on a District Line train with his guide dog three weeks ago.

An X-ray later revealed ‘extraordinary bruising’ to his legs.

‘As I took a step to get on to the tube train I suddenly felt both my feet disappearing down the gap,’ the former home secretary who served in Tony Blair’s New Labour government said.

‘In an instant my body had been propelled forward into the carriage and I was face down on the floor.

‘My legs had somehow been scraped out of the gap and into the carriage.

‘I didn’t fully know what had happened. I felt enormous pain in both my legs; they were bruised and grazed.’

The fall came after a recent heart attack that means he must take blood thinners, which make any bruising or bleeding dangerous.

Lord Blunkett says while there are announcements advising people to mind the gap, ‘too often there are no staff members to actually help you if, like me, you cannot see’.

He is now calling for Transport for London (TfL) to make efforts to fill the widest gaps on platforms and make sure there is always someone there to help, especially during rush hour.

‘Some of our platforms are death traps,’ he wrote in the Sun on Sunday.

‘The gap between the walkway and train is huge and they are unsafe for everyone, but particularly for blind people.’

He is set to meet TfL to ask for answers and an urgent review into the safety of the busiest tube stations.

Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said: ‘We were extremely sorry that Lord Blunkett was injured on our network.

‘We have written to, and will be meeting with, him to discuss how we could have managed the incident better and to ensure that lessons are learned.

‘The safety of our customers and staff is at the forefront of everything we do, and while injuries like the one experienced by Lord Blunkett are rare, we are undertaking a huge range of work aimed at eradicating such incidents and making travelling even safer for everyone.’

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