Campaigners fighting for improved disabled access at Abergavenny Train Station told councillors last week that the grassroots movement had stalled, blaming authorities for ‘passing the buck’.

Key campaigner Phillip Bowyer told last week’s Bryn-y-Cym committee meeting that the Abergavenny Rail Access Campaign had fizzled amongst the bureaucracy of government bodies, and the popular cause was being strangled by red tape.

It has ballooned since August last year, when this newspaper revealed that passengers with mobility issues often had to book assistance at least one full day before they planned to travel. Others were advised to add 50-plus miles to their journeys to access trains from Hereford.

Access problems are not restricted to those with mobility issues, campaigners have underlined, as those with children, or heavy luggage, have also expressed dismay at their struggles to cross the passenger bridge without the aid of a lift.

The campaign has enjoyed burgeoning local support, with Mr Bowyer pointing out that over 4,000 people have signed a petition urging government and train bodies to install a new footbridge and pedestrian lifts, since being kickstarted last August.

One major bone of contention for rail bosses is the current signalling system.

“It seems to me that the buck is being passed from one body, to another,”said Mr Bowyer. “We need someone — anyone — to look into this matter, and come up with a figure of what it will cost to solve the signalling problem, or to put up a new design.”

Adding 3,000 signatures since January, the campaign also swept up support from the town council, plus Nick Ramsay AM and David Davies MP.

Plans to install a new footbridge were stamped by Monmouthshire County Council seven years ago, but Network Rail cancelled the work over visibility issues.

Sam Hadley, a representative for the rail firm, praised the campaign, and added that he felt ‘positive’ and that efforts were in a far more favourable light than ‘a few months ago’ before confirming that ‘signalling remains the issue’.

“We don’t have a date yet, but, I have been hearing some very positive noises from the Department for Transport,” he said, before declining to offer any concrete date or progress markers. “It’s in a much better place than a few months ago,” he added.

“I know it us unacceptable, and we would really like to get it done now, but these schemes are very complex and we have to work with what funding is available,” he added.

Martyn Groucutt, a Labour councillor for Lansdown ward, said the problem offered a ‘good example as to why the train network should be taken back into public ownership,” before dubbing the reality as a ‘farce’.

The meeting heard that Abergavenny station ‘remained a high priority’ for eventual funding, with bosses from Arriva Trains Wales, the Department for Transport and the Welsh Government busy ironing out the details.

Councillors present threaded a theme of disappointment, with all of those who did ask a question each querying why such a pressing issue had seemingly failed to shape into concrete progress.

Councillor Giles Howard said the situation was ‘pathetic’ and warned the meeting that the concern would ‘get nowhere’ without a clear strategy from all involved.

The campaign, which has grown in thousands of signatures since February, hopes to push through a revamp costing millions, and has the backing of David Davies MP and Monmouth’s Assembly representative Nick Ramsay.

Councillor Tudor Thomas waded in, saying that the situation was often a ‘nightmare’ not just for disabled people, but those with luggage, or children.

“I was coming back from London on the train,” he said, “and someone in a wheelchair was effectively stranded on one side of the platform because the staff had left. She had no way of crossing the bridge.

“The station really is not fit for purpose. The Equalities Act back in 2010 was passed to ensure fair access at all public places, including train stations. At a local disability meeting I chair, this issue is the top concern at every meeting. Something needs to change.”