JustBeingCP

I wrote to the Minister of State for Rail, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE just after the general election to share my experiences of being a disabled rail passenger living in the west Midlands. As you will know I have spent a lot of time this February last year fighting for equal access to the railways on behalf of those with disabilities and mobility issues.

West Midlands Trains (WMT) finally stood up and listened to my experiences of using there network which lead to them introducing accessible waiting spaces on the platforms at some of there unstaffed stations that either see high volumes of passenger assistance requests going though them or are classed as a event stations.

Aston and Witton Lane stations near Birmingham had the signage installed in January and May this year which has lead to a better experience for those of our community who use the network on a regular basis.

The signage will hopefully be installed at a number of different stations around the region following its success at the two trial stations, those stations are:

1. Northampton
2. Coventry Arena
3. The Hawthorns
4. Tile Hill
5. University
6. Kenilworth
7. Telford

Discussions remain 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.

Jesse Norman, the Member of Parliament for Hereford and South Herefordshire supported my call for a meeting with the Minister and his departmental officials to discuss my concerns about the assisted travel provision that is offered across the nation.

Jesse was even planning to attend the meeting with me, however today, Friday the 27th of September 2024 the office of Lord Peter Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE have replied by saying: As you will appreciate the minister has a very busy diary and unfortunately, on this occasion, is unable to accept.

I have therefore asked the office of Jesse Norman MP to raise the following points of interest with the minister and his officials on my behalf,

1. West Midlands Trains (WMT) should be praised by the DFT for their work in implementing the signage at Witton Lane and Aston stations near Birmingham on my recommendation at a meeting in November 2023. 
2. Is the DFT working with rail operators to ensure that things like disabled passengers having to crawl off trains because there booked assistance fails to turn up at the train when it arrives at there destination station doesn’t happen again?.
3. Can the DFT remind rail operators of their responsibilities when it comes to passengers refusing to vacate the wheelchair seating areas on services or leaving their luggage within those areas?.
4. There needs to be more staff training or awareness around the fact that not all passengers who have booked assisted travel at stations where it is operated by network rail can make there own way to trains from the assisted travel lounge – please can I ask that those stations are reminded of there responsibilities in this area?.
5. Do the DFT know how many stations across England already have accessibility signage and how many currently do not? 
6. Could the department write to all rail operators except WMT, reminding them of how vital accessibility signage is for those requiring assistance to travel by rail especially at unstaffed stations like Aston and Witton Lane in Birmingham. 
7. Assisted Travel on the rail network is currently not fit for purpose and I hope that this will change once the railways are brought back into public ownership. Can the department ensure that this is will be the case. 
8. The accessibility project that I have been working on with WMT since November 2023 hasn’t been completed yet – what would happen to it once WMT are brought back into public ownership if it not completed before this happens. 
9. The government talks about “putting passengers first” how are they doing this if they won’t even listen to the views of the people who rely on the rail network to stay independent. 

A massive thanks must go to Jesse Norman MP and his team for taking my concerns around this issue very seriously and attempting to secure a meeting with the Department for Transport on my behalf, they clearly don’t want to learn from my experiences.

#notputtingpassengersfirst

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I would as always like to thank you, my loyal readers and followers for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest post it doesn’t go unnoticed and is of course very much appreciated- be rest assured my fight in this area continues.

Cam