Tragic Case Should Translate Into Train Standards - Brake

12.00.00am GMT Wed 26th Jan 2005

Speaking in a parliamentary debate today (4pm) about the case of his constituent, Janice Norman, who believes she lost her baby after being pushed in the stomach by a commuter in a crowded commuter train, Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake will call on the Government to:-

Back Janice Norman and Tom Brake's triple C campaign - 'considerate commuter campaign'

Introduce national minimum standards for vulnerable passengers for the provision of priority seats, reservations protocols and first class upgrades

Introduce national minimum standards for the level of overcrowding on trains, stations and platforms

Streamline and simplify the reporting of overcrowding incidents

Review the enforceability of priority seating

Tom Brake said, "The anti-social behaviour we experience on our streets is spilling over onto our trains, buses and tubes. The Government must back the triple C campaign and ensure that public transport is enjoyed by all, not just those who are able-bodied, inconsiderate or aggressive."

Tom Brake added, "But the long-term solution is to have a transport system that's not vastly overcrowded."

Mr Brake's constituent Janice Norman was travelling on a train when she was 25 weeks pregnant with her first child. On the crowded train, Ms Norman could not get a seat and was pushed in the stomach by another commuter trying to move through the carriage. She went to hospital for a check-up that night and was told she was fine.

But a month later she had to have an emergency caesarean and her baby died five days later. A post mortem suggested the baby's growth might have been affected by a trauma to the baby at 25 weeks.