Many of Oxfordshire's railway stations have little or no provision for disabled people -- and the situation is unlikely to change, according to Thames Trains.

The company says the problem is unlikely to be tackled because Railtrack is in administration.

Many of the county's small Victorian stations are not equipped to get people in wheelchairs from one platform to another. Oxford, Didcot and Banbury stations have wheelchair-accessible lifts, bridges or subways.

Wheelchair-bound Janey Chapman, of Cheney Walk, Abingdon, has had to pay up to £15 to return from Oxford station by taxi.

However, if her nearest station, Radley, had lifts, the fare would be only £4.

She said: "I do use the trains a lot and find staff helpful.

"But these smaller stations are awful. There's not even a toilet at Radley."

Thames Trains, which manages most stations in the county, says the chances of Oxfordshire's rural stations being upgraded are slim, because of cost.

Spokesman Jonathan Radley said 50 years of Government ownership had failed to deliver better stations.

He added: "It would cost about £500,000 to install one set of lifts at a station. I can't see anyone spending that amount at a station as small as Radley or Culham.

"All our stations are owned by Railtrack. It's the landlord's responsibility to plan and replace infrastructure."

Railtrack spokesman Christian Tagholm said whenever major stations were targeted for renovation, disabled facilities were being installed or upgraded.

He said: "We co-operate as much as we can with train operating companies in helping put in more facilities for the disabled."

Janet Mace, co-ordinator of Oxfordshire Council for Disabled People, said the problem was more than the lack of access to platforms.

Integration of public transport, to improve station access, was also crucial, she said.

"There's also an issue with car parking.

"If disabled people cannot access car parks, why should they even bother trying to take the trains?" she added.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, train service providers must install disabled access facilities on all new stations and trains.