Narre Warren man John Hardie says he was left stranded at Dandenong Station last week despite his pleas for help to train staff.
By Shaun Inguanzo
A BLIND man says a short-sighted employee left him stranded in freezing weather at Dandenong train station last week.
But train operator Connex says its initial investigations show another version of events, and that the man was behaving aggressively towards staff.
Narre Warren man John Hardie, 45, said he could not believe it when a Connex employee stormed away from his plea for help at Dandenong Station on Tuesday, 12 September.
A collision between a truck and train further down the Pakenham line meant commuters were forced to catch buses or taxis from Dandenong Station to continue their journeys home. But Mr Hardie, who relies on a guide dog and severely limited vision to navigate the world, said he did not know how to exit the station to the bus terminal. He said he approached a Connex employee near the train driver’s cabin shortly before 9pm, but was refused assistance.
“I told him I was visually impaired but he again said ‘over there, at the end of the platform’ in an agitated voice,” Mr Hardie said. “I said, ‘please don’t be rude’, but he said ‘if you think I’m being rude you had better go ask somebody else’ and he left me alone on the platform.”
Mr Hardie said no-one was left on the platform and he had no option but to call the police.
But there was one more bungle in Mr Hardie’s traumatic ride home – the police were told he was not on the platform.
“The police sent a car but I later found out when they turned up they were told by a (Connex) employee that I was already gone,” he said.
Mr Hardie waited a gruelling hour in the cold with his dog while he called the police a second time.
Before they arrived, the 9.52pm train pulled into Dandenong and Mr Hardie said he finally received help from a Connex employee.
Connex spokesperson Kate Declercq said the train operator was still investigating the matter, but preliminary findings suggested different events to Mr Hardie’s story.
“It’s believed that Mr Hardie was offered assistance but aggressively refused and said he would wait for police to attend,” she said. “Later station staff organised a taxi to take Mr Hardie from Dandenong Station to his house. Connex paid for the taxi.”
But Mr Hardie denied he was aggressive and said the ‘paid taxi’ was untrue.
“A Connex person from the 9.52pm train took me from the platform to the bus,” he said.
Mr Hardie said he then caught a bus to Narre Warren Station and paid for a taxi home – he even kept his receipt to prove it.
“I am absolutely shattered they want to lie, I just don’t understand,” he said. “Even if they had gotten me a taxi it wouldn’t have removed the problem – that is why I was left on the platform.”
Ms Declercq said Connex was now reviewing closed circuit television footage to finish its investigation this week.
