I have this afternoon written to most of the nations rail operators urging them to follow the lead of West Midlands Trains when it comes to accessibility at unstaffed stations on the network that they manage.
In my letter dated today (23rd of July 2024) I started off by recalling that I decided to contact the team at West Midlands Trains in February last year to raise several concerns about the passenger assistance service that I was being offered by them when travelling around the network to unstaffed stations.
I went onto explain the following concerns that I raised with WMT (West Midlands Trains) about the passenger assistance provision that they offered to the disabled community who travel on there network:
- There is no consistency when it comes to the service that disabled supporters receive when using the rail network to attend matches.
- I am fed up with not knowing if I will be supported by the staff of West Midlands Trains (WMT) once I have arrived at Witton Train Station.
WMT replied to my concerns a few weeks later in a letter by detailing what steps they had taken to fix the issues that I had raised and those steps were:
A. They redoubled efforts to ensure that they have as many trained members of staff available to deliver assistance as possible on match-days.
B. They also say that they reviewed where their staff are positioned post-match, so that they are ready to help customers requiring the use of a ramp to board services as quickly as possible.
C. Finally they reviewed their match-day travel advice to supporters in partnership with Aston Villa, particularly regarding the use of our pre-booked assistance service.
The story ended with me explaining that I visited an unstaffed station on their network a short while after I received their response to see if anything had changed from my previous experience, unfortunately it hadn’t so I wrote the then Minister for Rail and HS2, Huw Merriman, where I set out all the above and asked if he could arrange for WMT to meet with me.
On the 21st of July last year Mr Merriman wrote to West Midlands Trains asking them to reach out and arrange a meeting with me, they didn’t reach out until the 10th of November to arrange the meeting that was requested by the Minister in the July.
A meeting was finally arranged for the 28th of November, and I travelled with officials from the organisation which included their Customer Experience Director, Johnny Wiseman to Witton Lane station near Birmingham.
Once at the station I shared with those in attendance what I and others experience at the station on match-days after Aston Villa’s home matches, it is important to point out that the station is usually unstaffed.
I asked if the operator would consider installing accessibility signage at both Witton Lane and Aston stations. To my surprise they agreed to this, and we returned to the station a few weeks later to decide where the signage would be positioned on each of the platforms.
The signage was installed at the station on the 31st of January with Aston station following suit on the 8th of May. The success of the signage at both stations has led to WMT taking the decision to install it at the following stations across their network in the future:
- Northampton
- Coventry Arena
- The Hawthorns
- Kenilworth
- Telford
- Tile Hill
- University
Discussions are still ongoing at West Midlands Trains about whether the accessibility signage can be installed at the station after their health and safety team raised concerns about how narrow the platforms are.
Passengers using the waiting spaces on either platform could be put at risk when high speed trains are passing through the station because of how close they would be to the train.
I ended the letter by calling for the 15 other rail operators across our beautiful nation to look at their networks and consider installing the accessible waiting spaces at stations which see high volumes of passenger assistance requests going through them.
If West Midlands Trains can do this for the disabled community living in their region so can you, it is time to put passengers first especially those with mobility issues and other disabilities.
As always, If you are someone who uses a wheelchair, mobility scooter or other mobility aid and travels by rail, remember there are a 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.
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I would to once again 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 should also 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 posts, 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) @RailaccessUK.
Cam
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