Improving the accessibility of both the pavement network in Herefordshire and the assisted travel provision that is offered by West Midlands Trains (WMT) to those with disabilities and other mobility issues has been my life for the last 8 years.
It all started back in 2018 when I began lobbying councillors and there officers at Herefordshire Council about the state of the pavement network across the county for those who use wheelchairs, mobility scooters and walking aids.
A lack of dropped curbs on 2 of the counties busiest roads that I defined as ” an accident waiting to happen” was the real issue at hand, wheelchair and mobility scooter users were forced to risk there safety on the roads of these 2 locations with the likes of cars and HGV lorries coming towards us at speed.
Unfortunately the local authority weren’t listening to my concerns so I had to enlist the support of 2 regional media outlets to highlight the issue and how it was affecting the lives of our community.
Last year (2024) the council finally completed works on another 2 locations which I identified not long after the campaign had started in 2018, the Chief Executive Officer of the authority did have to get involved with the work after I was forced to ask the same question in various different ways in relation to the second set of locations being ” an accident waiting to happen”.
April 2025 saw the installation of the final set of dropped curbs in the county which I was delighted to see.
I then turned my attention to improving the accessibility of railway stations that are managed by West Midlands Trains and have high volumes of passenger assistance requests passing through the station or are unstaffed.
Meeting’s were arranged with senior officials from WMT at Witton Lane station near Birmingham in November 2023 and this was where I was able to share with them what I and others faced when using the station on match-days as it is near to the home of Aston Villa football club.
This led to the suggestion of accessible waiting spaces and other types of accessibility signage being installed, much to my surprise the operator agreed to this and began working out how to deliver this.
Since January 2024 10 railway stations have seen the spaces introduced and those stations are:
- Worcester Shrub Hill
- Worcester Foregate Street
- Witton Lane
- Aston
- Telford Central
- Coventry Arena
- The Hawthorns
- Kenilworth
- Selly Oak
- Lye
If you travel by rail on a regular basis and need assistance to board or disembark services, your assisted travel can be booked up to 2 hours before departure in 1 of 3 ways.
By Phone: 0800 024 8998 or by using Next Generation Text – 18001 0800 024 8998.
Online: https://booking.passengerassistance.com.
By using the App: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/passenger-assistance/id1542190496.
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Herefordshire Council, Balfour Beatty Living Places and West Midlands Trains have gone above and beyond to make things like the pavement network and railway stations accessible to all, your dedication and hard work to these projects hasn’t gone unnoticed and is very much appreciated.
A thank you must also go to you, my loyal readers and social media followers who continually take the time out of there busy schedules to read my latest post it doesn’t go unnoticed and is of course very much appreciated.
Cam
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