Making rail accessible for all
- kevinndaws
- Jul 12
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 14
This issue of making sure that all public transport is accessible for disabled people is constantly raised at the TUC Disabled Workers Conference because of inaction by Government's of all political colours.
The Equality Act 2010 says that companies that provide public transport services, such as buses, trains, the underground and taxis cannot discriminate against Disabled people and requires them to take steps to make their services accessible for Disabled people.
The big problem is that many railway stations, metro stations and tube stations remain inaccessible.
Did you know that only 92 out of 272 London Underground stations have step-free access, and at around half of these there is no level boarding, so a manual boarding ramp is required.
If the train operating companies achieve their wish to close ticket offices and reduce, if not remove, station staffing then the ability of disabled people to access manual boarding will be removed.
The role of staff at stations and on trains is vital for making rail accessible and ensuring disabled people receive the assistance they require when travelling, including Turn Up and Go.
The importance of accessible public transport cannot be overstated and we should all be concerned that disabled people still face additional barriers when
travelling by rail and as a result make fewer journeys than non disabled people.
It is estimated that at current investment rates, it will take 100 years to make all stations step-free. For 2019-2024, Network Rail spent £284m of the £350m ‘Access for All’ budget while completing only 20 of 85 schemes. This is both appalling and unacceptable.
Did you know that a number of new stations have been built without ticket offices and there are attempts by train companies to reduce ticket office hours and station staffing and extend Driver Only Operation.
I spoke in this debate on behalf of the UCU who fully supported the motion. Here is what I had to say:
Let me start by highlighting a few facts:
The commitment in the Equality Act to make Public Transport fully accessible is constantly being delayed by Government’s of all political colours. I read in Disability News that at the current rate of progress it will take 100 years to get fully accessible railways. Conference this is unacceptable
Network Rail are still building new footbridges that are not accessible - you may have seen the article in the Disability News Service on 15th May.
Last year Network Rail failed to spend £65 million pounds to improve access at stations! WHY?
Despite the successful campaign to prevent the closure of ticket offices they are now being closed through the back door through constantly reducing opening times.
Conference as a deaf person I regularly travel by train but I am unable to hear any station announcements which means that if the train I'm catching is moved to a different platform, I will not know.
Recently I had to change trains at Reading where I was waiting for a train to Bournemouth. The train was moved to a different platform but I was not aware of any announcements about this and I only became aware of the platform change because it had been moved to the platform opposite me. I went to ask a member of the platform staff and they confirmed that this was my train and confirmed that there had been no announcement. With my heavy suitcase I had to get a lift up to the passenger bridge, cross the bridge and get a lift down to the platform to catch the train and I only caught the train because I shouted 'hold the doors' and a passenger did that for me, otherwise I would have missed the train, through no fault of my own, and had to wait for another hour for the next train.
Unfortunately, I have more bad experiences than good experiences which have resulted in me missing trains or catching them by the skin of my teeth.
On one occasion one of the station staff approached me to ask me if I was waiting for the train to Gloucester and then advised me that the train was now leaving from a different platform. That was a very positive experience.
Conference we do support this motion and totally agree that the TUC and trade unions need to work in partnership with disabled and older people’s organisations who share our goals to ensure that the rail network is properly accessible.
The Government have recently been claiming that they wish to support disabled people into work. That claim would have more credibility if they actually ensured that disabled people could access public transport so that they can travel to work!
Comments