Getting railway accessibility on track

The Department for Transport (DfT) is consulting on a new code of practice for train and station design for disabled passengers. The consultation is being jointly held with Transport Scotland, the devolved Scottish transport authority.

The consultation covers train accessibility, infrastructure and facilities for disabled people, and service provision (e.g. staffing assistance). The effect of an inaccessible transport system on the lives of disabled people is examined in the 2003 Mind the Gap report by the Leonard Cheshire charity.

Mainline services on the UK rail network are already covered by EU guidance as part of the Trans-European Network, and this consultation is proposing to match the remainder to the European specification. The Government states that this will "make it easier for disabled people to know what type of facilities and infrastructure to expect as they travel by rail throughout Great Britain" and makes compliance by licensed operators to abide with. However the DfT has unhelpfully not made the EU guidance available on its website.

One immediate problem is the exemptions for the Heathrow Express and for London Underground. As MENCAP states, "it must be stressed that access is fairly poor on the Underground in general". Given the Victorian infrastructure of much of the LU network, there is perhaps a case for limited exemptions at some LU stations, but why the Heathrow Express?

Railway accessibility issues directly concern a large number of people: it is estimated that 800,000 people in the UK use a wheelchair; 2.5 million have learning difficulties; 157,000 are registered blind; and, according to RNID, around two million people in the UK use hearing aids. The RNIB website contains a good summary of how the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act applies to rail.

The rail union RMT has clear policy on expanding provision for disabled passengers, and highlights that for disabled passengers to be able to use the trains, "railway stations themselves must also be fully accessible. This requires the introduction of station facilities such as; level access to platforms, accessible toilets and booking office areas". The RMT has recently been campaigning against the closure of ticket offices and cuts in opening times and against driver-only operation of trains on the rail network.

Adequate staffing levels are cited as vital by a number of disability organisations. The Spinal Injuries Association states that "SIA would like to cite Paddington Station as an example of good practice has a reception area for people needing assistance to travel providing a warm, quiet area, with to accessible toilets away from the hustle-bustle of the main station concourse, where they are able to notify (and wait in comfort) the well trained and organised staff of their arrival at the station". As Age Concern notes: "many mainline stations and termini are accessible, but facilities and availability of staff vary widely". It therefore might be worth suggesting that minimum standards of station staffing and ticket office opening times are written into future franchise agreements.

The consultation document Consultation on revision of "Train and Station Standards for Disabled People: A Code of Practice" can be downloaded from the DfT website. Those based in Scotland are also asked "whether this code ought to apply in Scotland or whether Scottish ministers should exercise their right to prepare their own code". The deadline for responses is 23rd May 2008.