It is because a new £5.5m platform, opened last month, does not have a lift for disabled, elderly or passengers with pushchairs to use.

Network Rail said building a lift now would cause disruption, although there will be one in another redevelopment in time for the Ryder Cup in 2010.

In the meantime it is to provide free taxis as a "goodwill gesture".

The only access to the 270-metre long platform four is either a long walk through a car park or through the station over a footbridge.

But both routes are too difficult for passengers with mobility problems.

"It seems a bit strange if this was a new development that it wasn't thought about." - Disability Rights Commission spokeswoman

They are now being helped into a taxi and driven half-a-mile around the station to reach the new platform.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: "The taxi service is there as and when needed and can be accessed via a help-point on the platform."

A local taxi firm has been commissioned to ferry passengers who need help to the new platform at the station, which is on the mainline between south Wales and London Paddington.

The situation will change in time for golf's Ryder Cup, one of the world's biggest sport events, being held at nearby Celtic Manor Resort in 2010.

The spokeswoman added:"Lifts will be put in a new station development by the time of the Ryder Cup in 2010.

"To do so now would require a lot of development work and we did not want to delay the extension."

Integral feature

A spokeswoman for the Disability Rights Commission said the situation was not ideal, but Network Rail was not breaking the law as they were providing access for passengers.

But the spokeswoman added: "It seems a bit strange if this was a new development that it wasn't thought about."

Conservative AM William Graham also criticised d the lack of disabled access.

"I appreciate that this service is being provided free of charge as a 'goodwill gesture', " he aid.

"However, a wait until the Ryder Cup in 2010 for lifts to be installed is not an answer.

"Disabled access should have been an integral design feature from the very beginning of this project".

See also:

Legal quiz on £5.5m rail platform

BBC news: 19 August 2007

Wales's disability rights commissioner is taking legal advice on whether the absence of a lift at a rail station's £5.5m new platform breaks the law.

The £5.5m new platform has no lift for people with mobility problems

Network Rail is paying cabbies £3 to ferry passengers with mobility problems from other parts of Newport station to platform four.

It says a lift will be in place by 2010 when the city hosts the Ryder Cup.

But commissioner Kevin Fitzpatrick said the needs of ordinary customers, rather than golfers, should come first.

Passengers using the new 270m (885ft) platform, which is on the main line between south Wales and London Paddington, must climb a footbridge or walk the half-mile (0.8km) through the railway station's car park.

Critics say the route is too difficult for disabled or elderly people or passengers with pushchairs.

The Disability Rights Commission had said earlier that while the situation was not ideal, Network Rail may be within the law as it is providing access via the taxis.

Kevin Fitzpatrick said passengers seemed to be treated "second class"

However, Dr Fitzpatrick is now seeking legal opinion on whether the platform, as a new development, is breaking disability discrimination laws.

"What's driving this is the needs of golfers, not the needs of ordinary customers," he said.

He added: "Throughout Wales there are lots and lots of people who'd travel by train if they could.

"It certainly ignores them and excludes them and means that they are second class in terms of any provision that the station is going to be able to give to them."

Network Rail has said that building a lift now will cause disruption, but there will be one in another redevelopment when the city hosts golf's 2010 Ryder Cup.

When the problem first emerged a Network Rail spokeswoman said: "The taxi service is there as and when needed and can be accessed via a help-point on the platform.

"Lifts will be put in a new station development by the time of the Ryder Cup in 2010.

"To do so now would require a lot of development work and we did not want to delay the extension."