The Minister for Rail, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE has been asked by Jesse Norman the member of parliament for Hereford and South Herefordshire to meet with me and discuss the assisted travel provision that is currently offered by rail operators to those with mobility issues and other disabilities.
As you, my readers and followers will know I have been working with the team at West Midlands Trains to improve the assisted travel provision that is offered by them across the region.
So far they have installed waiting spaces for those requiring assistance to board or disembark services at couple of unstaffed stations in the region and they are, Aston and Witton Lane which are located on the line to Walsall.
It is hoped that following the success of the waiting spaces at the stations I have mentioned above that the spaces will be installed at other stations in the region, the proposed stations are:
- Northampton
- Coventry Arena
- The Hawthorns
- Telford
- Tile Hill
- Kenilworth
- University
Officials from WMT (West Midlands Trains) visited the station at Coventry Arena earlier this week to decide where the waiting spaces will be positioned on both of the platforms at the station, so it looks like this station will be the next one to have the waiting spaces installed.
I am calling for the other 15 rail operators across the nation to look at the stations that they manage and consider installing the waiting spaces at those who have high volumes of passenger assistance requests going though them.
I would like to repeat my message to Lord Hendy and his departmental officials from the 11th of July, I would love to see West Midlands Trains (WMT) and the work that they have done in this area used as a case study of good practice for the other fifteen rail operators when they look at this issue.
It is completely unacceptable that members of the disabled community are being forgotten about whilst they are on trains or at there destination because they aren’t seen by fellow passengers, train crew or event station staff after attending an event because the station is incredibly busy.
Please can I ask that you look at how the department can work with rail operators to improve this because we have to remember that “improving performance on the railways” is not just about ensuring that services aren’t cancelled or delayed it is also about how all passengers are treated on the network.
I strongly believe that this is a key part of ensuring that passengers are put first especially those who cannot just step onto trains once they have arrived at a station, I would like to see the likes of Broadstairs in Kent, Colwall in Worcestershire and Ledbury in Herefordshire get accessible waiting spaces at there stations, all of which are classed as unstaffed.
I intend to ask the Minister and his officials a series of questions around this issue on behalf of our community who are consistently failed by rail operators up and down the country regardless of where they live.
There is one question in particular that I’m keen to get a response to and that this question, How often is assisted travel for passengers with mobility issues and other disabilities reviewed by the Department for Transport and the rail operators themselves?
To me it doesn’t feel like any of the rail operators review there processes for assisted travel on a regular basis to learn from any mistakes that they may have made or service user feedback that they receive.
WMT (West Midlands Trains) clearly have learn’t from the service user feedback that they have received in the last few months because they have acted on the feedback that I gave them at our initial meeting in Witton last November.
As always, If you are someone who uses a wheelchair, mobility scooter or other mobility aid and travels by rail, remember there are number of ways that you can book your assisted travel:
By Phone: 0800 024 8998 or by using Next Generation Text – 18001 0800 024 8998
Online: https://booking.passengerassistance.com.
App: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/passenger-assistance/id1542190496.
I would also like to repeat my key message which is also taken from the 11th of July this year which is this, Accessibility Signage at unstaffed train stations needs to be an integral part of the “improving performance on the railways” messaging from the DFT (Department for Transport).
As a community we want to travel by rail with ease today and that means , signage is needed now not in 5 or 10 years time.
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I would once again like to thank the incredible team at West Midlands Trains who have both listened and worked with me during the last 9 months to make my accessibility signage dream a reality across our beautiful region, you are all incredible individuals.
I am so excited to continue the journey that we are currently on in the coming months in the hope that we can make the rail network across the Midlands accessible to all, even if those with mobility issues and other disabilities are travelling from unstaffed stations.
I also hope that guidance will be produced by the Department for Transport (DFT) in the coming year so that the entire rail network across the country becomes completely accessible to all regardless of where you live or what mobility issues and other disabilities you may have.
I should take the time to recognise and thank my loyal readers and followers who continually take the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest post, it doesn’t go unnoticed and is very much appreciated.
If you would like to see my accessibility signage work come to life, please follow it on X (formerly Twitter) @RailaccessWM.
Cam
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