Lord Blunkett said: “Whenever you step into a Tube station in London you hear the tannoy warn people to ‘mind the gap’. But too often there are no staff members to actually help you if, like me, you cannot see.”
He is calling for TfL to fill the widest gaps on platforms and make sure there is always someone there to help, especially during rush hour.
He added “some of our platforms are death traps. The gap between the walkway and train is huge and they are unsafe for everyone, but particularly for blind people.”
Lord Blunkett is expected to request TfL launch 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.”
