Print

Mail

wiki links

Railway station restrooms draw ire

"Five months have passed and obviously nothing's been done ... We are seriously considering having a petition at the station sometime in the near future if the station does not do anything about the problem."

Lin Chin-hsing, chairman of the Enable Organization

The Taipei Railway Station's less than accessible restrooms for handicapped individuals are drawing complains from their users.

A person suffering from poliomyelitis, who wished only to be identified as Hsiao Chi (小琪), said the station's restroom for the handicapped "looks like a haunted room."

"I do not feel safe using the bathroom alone, especially at night," she said. "I don't think I will be coming back to this bathroom again."

Hsiao said she once entered the station's No. 3 South gate, wanting to use the handicapped bathroom there.

The information desk told her the only handicapped bathroom at the station was located in the basement, near the No. 1 North gate.

Hsiao said the facilities with adequate guidance for blind people were only available at the station's ground floor.

"Once you reach the basement, all those facilities are gone," she said. "You need to walk through a long and dark hall to get to the handicapped bathroom."

Before entering the bathroom, Hsiao Chi said she noticed a warning on the wall which read: "company is strongly recommended for females wishing to use this bathroom."

"Was I supposed to suddenly ask somebody to accompany me so that I could go to the bathroom?" she said.

Inside the bathroom, the floor was wet and the handrail on the wall was broken, she said.

Chairman of the Enable Organization Lin Chin-hsing (林進興) said that the condition of the handicapped bathroom at Taipei Railway Station had been appraised in December.

Immediately afterwards, the organization notified the station and requested that the appropriate improvements be made.

"Five months have passed and obviously nothing's been done," Lin said.

"We are seriously considering having a petition at the station sometime in the near future if the station does not do anything about the problem," Lin said.
This story has been viewed 1382 times.