A DISABLED woman was left `traumatised' when she was stranded on a tram station after dark because the lifts had been shut down.

Wheelchair user Corrina Hyland, from Sale, was trapped for nearly half an hour at Dane Road station after 11pm.

She was unable to leave because the lifts are switched off after about 7.30 each evening to prevent vandals damaging or urinating in them.

Passengers needing to use the lifts during the evening are supposed to be able to press an emergency call button which alerts staff at a 24-hour control room to re-activate the lift.

'No answer'
But Corrina, who has spina bifida, says she received no answer when she rang the emergency number. And she says she had to wait until a passing tram driver radioed the control room.

Now she is calling for the system to be made clearer, with better signage, to avoid other wheelchair users or those with pushchairs feeling `vulnerable and traumatised'.

Corrina, 34, said: "I was coming home after visiting my boyfriend in Liverpool and got off the tram at Sale station. The lift wasn't working so I travelled on to Dane Road. I thought the lifts weren't working there either, so I pressed the customer service button and got a recorded message.

Vandalism
"When I tried the emergency button, it just rang out. I was panicking because it was late and I was alone. I can't walk and thought I was going to be stuck there all night.

"Eventually a tram stopped and the driver radioed through for the lifts to be switched back on. I felt really vulnerable and traumatised."

Metrolink said a new system of customer service and emergency call buttons placed next to each other on platforms were designed to improve communication with passengers. They were being installed at all stations over the next year.

There had been no reported problems from other passengers but duty manager Mike Ellams said he would review the situation for the next two months.

He said the lift had been out of service at Sale station on that evening because of an act of vandalism, which needed to be dealt with before the lift could be used

"We apologise to Miss Hyland that it was not working," he said.