Sick woman on Ballarat train seeks apology

By Kim Quinlan
Updated November 2 2012 - 2:23pm, first published July 20 2010 - 3:42pm

AN ARARAT woman who was suffering severe gastro symptoms when the train she was a passenger on ran out of fuel on Sunday was disgusted she was offered little help by V/Line staff.The woman, who did not want to be named, said 30 minutes into the trip from Southern Cross Station she began to suffer severe vomiting and diarrhoea.She was still suffering the symptoms when she and other passengers were forced to get off at the closed Bacchus Marsh station after the VLocity train ran out of fuel about 7.55pm Sunday."The station was closed and so were the toilets. Suffering from gastro, I really needed to use the toilets, so I ran through the station carpark and across the road to a park, but only a few metres from the toilet block in the park, I soiled myself," the embarrassed mother said.The woman said she also vomited on the railway tracks at the station.She said V/Line staff waiting with the 130 passengers failed to offer her a plastic bag or a bucket. "It was obvious I needed something to be sick in, but no one offered to help," she said.When buses arrived 45 minutes later to ferry the passengers to Ballan, Ballarat and Ararat, the woman said she was finally offered a plastic bag."I was very embarrassed. I had to tie my raincoat around my waist, so that no one could see I had soiled myself."After returning to Ararat at 11pm on Sunday, the sick woman attended the Ararat hospital for treatment. She was discharged at 9am yesterday."I want an apology from V/Line about my treatment. It was poor service, particularly when staff could see that I was really sick," the woman said.A V/Line spokesman said staff would have called emergency services if it was asked for. "It was obviously very embarrasing and distressing (for the woman concerned) and we are very sorry," he said.V/Line is holding an investigation into why the train ran out of fuel.

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