UK to create a transport system with equal access for disabled passengers by 2030

In July 2019 the UK Department for Transport marks the one-year anniversary since the publication of the Inclusive Transport Strategy to improve access for passengers with reduced mobility.  According to the statement of the UK Transport Accessibility Minister Nusrat Ghani, the government has already reached some significant milestones.

Among them:

• a commitment to extend the Access for All program with an additional £300 million, delivering improvements at a further 73 stations between 2019 and 2024;
• an invitation to motorway service stations to apply for a share of £2 million funding for fully accessible Changing Places facilities, supporting disabled people to travel easily and comfortably on the road network;
• the introduction of the first ever impartial and independent Rail Ombudsman, making sure passengers are heard and that they get a fair deal when train companies fall short;
• the extension of the Blue Badge eligibility criteria to include people with non-visible disabilities (mental, cognitive, learning, psychological, and neurological).

“Nonetheless, I acknowledge that there is still more to do to ensure that all disabled people have the same access to transport as everyone else and can travel confidently, easily and without extra cost, - Nusrat Ghani says. - The government will continue to work with transport operators, charities and disabled people’s organisations to ensure we achieve our overall goal, which remains to create a transport system which offers equal access for disabled passengers by 2030, with assistance if physical infrastructure remains a barrier” 

The government also opened £20 million funds for applications from stations in need of accessibility improvements, leading to small-scale enhancements, for example, tactile paving, handrails, Harrington Humps, which increase platform heights. Industry invited to nominate stations across Britain that would benefit from improvements to accessibility. Taken together, these improvements will open up journeys for disabled passengers, allowing them to travel with confidence.

John Welsman, Policy Business Partner at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, said: “Guide Dogs welcomes the additional funding as independent train travel is a real challenge for people living with sight loss. Elements like tactile paving on platform edges and steps, better signage, improved lighting and colour contrast will make stations easier to negotiate confidently and more safely. However, train travel is still a very complex environment for people with sight loss and we will continue to work to find solutions so that no one with sight loss is left out of life”. 

The Access for All program was first launched in 2006 and has so far delivered more than 200 accessible routes into stations along with smaller scale improvements at a further 1,500 stations.

Previous projects funded through the program include the installation of Harrington Humps at 77 stations to help reduce stepping distances from the platform to the train; accessible toilets installed at 18 stations - including a Changing Places toilet at London Paddington - and a new footbridge and 4 lifts installed at St Neots Station, Cambridgeshire. The work is all part of the government’s aspiration that by 2030 all major transport hubs and terminals on both public and private transport networks will meet the needs of disabled people, including toilet and changing facilities, straightforward signage, audio and visual messaging and space to navigate.