The 21st railway station to see the waiting spaces and signage installed by West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway has been revealed as, Marston Green in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull.
Blue and white boxes that feature a white wheelchair logo and the words ” for mobility assistance, please wait here” along with signage that mirrors the same messaging are positioned either behind or near to where the spaces are located on the platforms at various stations across the region that are managed by the operator.
After years of travelling around the Midlands to stations that are either classed as unstaffed or have high volumes of passengers requiring some sort of assistance to board or disembark services, I was fed up of the service I was receiving from the operator and decided to act.
In February 2023 I wrote to the operator about what I and others were experiencing at railway stations they manage across the rail network and in the November of that year I finally met with senior officials from the operator to discuss the issue of passenger assistance.
At that meeting following a wheel-though of my experience with officials a discussion was started around how they could improve the service offered by them for rail passengers with disabilities or mobility issues in the Midlands and beyond.
This was when I suggested they consider trailing the accessibility tools at some of there stations that could benefit from them, it is fair to say that they liked the idea and began working out how implement it across the network.
Since January 2024, railway stations in 5 counties have seen the tools introduced on the platforms and those stations are: Aston, Witton, The Hawthorns, Coventry Arena, Kenilworth, Lye, Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill, Telford Central, Selly Oak, Shenstone, Blake Street, Chester Road, Wylde Green, Erdington, Gravelly Hill, Four Oaks, Lichfield City, Sutton Coldfield and Tile Hill.
15 other railway stations that the operator are responsible for along with Marston Green are either in the process of getting the accessibility tools on the platforms or will be in the not to distant future, which I am excited to see.
Our (the disabled) community can now travel with ease and confidence across the rail network thanks to this project.
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As always I would like to thank the team at London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway, for all there hard work and dedication when delivering the project and making the rail journey experience better for those with disabilities or mobility issues, it does not go unnoticed and is very much appreciated.
A thank you must also go to each and everyone of you, my loyal readers and social media followers who continually the take the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest posts, as always it does not go unnoticed and is very much appreciated.
Cam
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