Martin Stewart almost lost his life when he fell between a train and platform in Melbourne and is now worried it could happen to anyone when Sydney's new intercity trains arrive.
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Blind since birth, in 2002 Mr Stewart lost an arm, a leg and part of an ear when he was dragged under the train for 200 metres.
The train recently had its guards removed, so there was no one to hear his desperate calls for help.
He's now concerned about a design fault in Sydney's new intercity fleet which will mean train guards won't be able to open their door to check on commuters as the train prepares to depart.
This will leave a 15-second blind spot where people could fall between the gap, Mr Stewart said.
"No one should need to go through what I do each day and they won't if this government listens to what I'm saying," he told reporters in Sydney on Friday.
"Unless the design fault with these trains is rectified, there's no doubt we'll see accidents like mine here in NSW."
The NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union met with the state government at the Fair Work Commission in Sydney on Friday in an attempt to convince them to fix the fault.
RTBU NSW secretary Alex Claassens argued the fault is a "fundamental risk" to commuters.
"It's disappointing they (the NSW government) are preparing to gamble the lives and the body parts of the people of NSW," he said alongside Mr Stewart.
Mr Claassens questioned why the state government is ordering the new trains when the newest Waratah fleet have increased CCTV and allow guards to stand in the doorways as the train departs.
"The new Waratah grade trains are exactly what we need them to be," he said.
A NSW TrainLink spokeswoman said the safety of customers and staff had been paramount in the design of the new intercity fleet.
Guards will use CCTV during train departures instead of leaning out the door of a moving train to inspect the platform, she told AAP in a statement.
"CCTV cameras offer guards full visibility of the entire length of the train, even on curved platforms and in bad weather," she said.
The new fleet of trains are expected to come into service on the Central Coast and the Newcastle line from late 2019.
Australian Associated Press
