Blind man fell onto the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly as freight train approached

A blind man who fell onto the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly railway station is taking legal action against Network Rail, alleging no tactile paving was in place on a platform's edge, his solicitors have said.

Abdul Eneser, who was walking with a white cane at the time, said he was a minute away from being hit by a high-speed freight train as it passed through. He described it as 'the most traumatic experience I have ever had to face as a visually impaired person'.

Speaking of his ordeal, the 20-year-old has called through his legal team for urgent action to improve provision for disabled people travelling on trains and through railway stations.

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Mr Eneser, from Blackley, north Manchester, also alleges he was let down by 'Passenger Assist' arrangements, designed to provide assistance for disabled people to navigate a station and get on and off trains.

Tactile paving can be raised-profile paving slabs, metal studs or adhesive tiles capable of being felt through shoes or by mobility aids like canes. It's used to warn blind and visually-impaired people they are approaching changes in layout or hazards like road crossings, flights of stairs - or platform edges.

Mr Eneser said he fell from platform 14 at Piccadilly after the Passenger Assist programme 'failed' following a train delay. The train, he went on, passed through on the same track a minute after he managed to pull himself back up onto the platform. His white cane and mobile phone were still on the tracks.

Mr Eneser was travelling home from Glasgow to Manchester via Preston at the time. Law firm Leigh Day, who are representing him, said he's suing Network Rail and two train operating