It’s a new year which I see as a fresh start which also presents a new challenge for me as football supporters who have mobility issues or disabilities continue travelling by rail to matches across the Midlands.
Those of you reading this will know by now that for just under 3 years I have been working with the team at West Midlands Railway / London Northwestern Railway in an attempt to improve the accessibility of the railway stations that are close to Villa Park and The Hawthorns in Birmingham along with Coventry Arena railway station in Coventry.
I first met with officials from the operator at Witton Lane station in Birmingham that is a stones throw away from Villa Park, the home of Aston Villa football club on the 28th of November 2023 where I was able to show them the challenges that I and others faced when using the station to get home on match-days.
It was at this meeting where I suggested the introduction of waiting spaces on the platforms, giving our (the disabled) community somewhere safe to wait on busy platforms whilst waiting for our trains home.
However despite this work with one of the biggest rail operators in the Midlands, the results of Level Playing Fields annual fan survey of disabled sports fans last year (2025) showed that 22.5% of those who responded said that inaccessible public transport is a barrier to them attending live sport.
This is completely unacceptable in 2026 and has to change as soon as possible, rail operators across the united kingdom need to start with the football clubs the routes they operate serve to remove the barrier for our community.
I spoke to WMR/LNR about Level Playing Fields findings at the end of last year especially in relation to the barrier which is the focus of this piece and how we can together to remove it (the barrier)
It is important to note that this piece of work has already been started by the operator through the waiting spaces project, but there is still plenty of work to do so that it Improves further in the years to come and more people from our community to travel live sports events by rail in the rail in the region.
Do you travel by rail to live sports events and require some 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.
Using the App: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/passenger-assistance/id1542190496.
However you do have a legal right to just turn up at a railway station and travel without booking any assistance prior to departure.
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As always I would like to thank the team at WMR/LNR for continuing to work with me and listen to my points of view once raised, it 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 your busy schedules to read my latest posts, it hasn’t gone unnoticed and is very much appreciated.
Cam
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