World Green Left (Australia)
Accessible tram stop campaigners try to board Sydney Road tram
Accessible transport campaigners in Naarm/Melbourne held an action to highlight the inaccessibility of the tram network. Chloe Beaton reports.
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After being ignored by the Victorian government for three-and-a-half years, the Sydney Road Accessible Tram Stops (SATS) campaign held an action on October 23.
A group of about 30 people, with and without mobility aids, attempted to board a tram on Sydney Road to highlight the inaccessibility.
While Sydney Road has many different classes of trams that run along it, campaigners waited for a low floor tram because it is those that would be accessible if tram stops were upgraded.
These could be used by people with mobility aids, such as wheelchairs, walkers and crutches, but also by people with prams and shopping trolleys.
The rally waited for more than 20 minutes for a low floor tram to approach. Once it arrived, campaigners tried to board.
Protesters sang and chanted as they unsuccessfully attempted to board the tram.
One person had come with a ramp, and pointed out that the only way someone with a mobility issue could use a tram is to carry around a heavy ramp with them.
To highlight how long the campaign has been going — as well as previous public transport and disability rights campaigns — a model skeleton in a wheelchair, named Briony, was the mascot for the day.
Organisers said Briony had been waiting so long for accessible tram stops to be built on Sydney Road that she died in her wheelchair.
While it sounds dramatic, there have been several SATS campaigners who have died before one accessible tram stop has been built on Sydney Road, including Tim Reid and Frank Hall-Bentick.
Campaigners expressed frustration that they have not been acknowledged or heard, despite years of campaigning and federal government legislation stating that all public transport would be accessible by 2022.
The protesters said everyone should be able to access the tram, particularly when the Upfield train line is temporarily closed for level crossing removal, leaving no accessible public transport in the area.
SATS is calling on the Victorian government to guarantee the construction of accessible tram stops on Sydney Road before the Upfield line level crossing removals continue.
[Chloe Beaton is an activist with Sydney Accessible Tram Stops and a Socialist Alliance candidate for Northern Metropolitan in the Victorian elections.]