JustBeingCP

In the last few minutes or so I have written to the Secretary of State for Transport and Minister for Rail and HS2 about the concerns I have regarding the new Great British Railways trains being designed to accommodate level boarding.

In my letter I outlined the fact that ” my own experience has taught me that the concept of “level boarding” must encompass much more than simply ensuring that the floor of a train is at approximately the same height as the platform”.

” On one occasion at Paddington Underground station in London, while leaving a train in my wheelchair, my front wheels fell into the gap between the train and the platform edge. This was an extremely concerning experience. A member of staff had to assist me off the train following the incident, with my wheelchair being taken off in reverse”.

” I raise this experience because it illustrates why the horizontal gap between a train and the platform can be every bit as important to a wheelchair user as the difference in height. A gap that might appear relatively small to somebody walking on and off a train can present a significant obstacle or potential safety risk to somebody using a wheelchair, particularly where the wheelchair has small front castor wheels”.

” Therefore I welcomed the Department for Transport’s announcement of 29 September, “Don’t mind the gap: level boarding commitment for new trains”, and its commitment that new Great British Railways trains should be designed to reduce barriers between trains and standard Network Rail platforms”.

” Nevertheless, I would be grateful for greater clarity about precisely what the Government means by “unassisted level boarding”. I would like to know what maximum horizontal and vertical gaps will be considered acceptable, how these standards will account for different wheelchair designs and wheel sizes, and how the Government will ensure that level boarding remains genuinely safe at stations with curved platforms or other infrastructure constraints”.

” Today (October the 1st, 2026) I am urging the Government and Great British Railways (once it has been fully established) to involve wheelchair users and other disabled passengers extensively in the design, testing and introduction of these trains. Accessibility should not simply be tested against technical standards”

” It should be tested in real-world conditions by the people who will depend upon it.There is another important issue which I believe must not be overlooked in the enthusiasm surrounding new trains: Passenger Assist and the quality of assistance currently available across the railway”

” While the long-term objective should absolutely be to enable disabled people to travel as independently as possible, new rolling stock will take many years to introduce across the network. There will continue to be older trains, inaccessible stations, platform gaps, broken lifts and journeys involving several different operators”.

” For many disabled passengers, staff assistance is therefore not an optional extra. It is what makes a journey possible. The Government itself has acknowledged through its Roadmap to an Accessible Railway that improvements are needed to the consistency and reliability of Passenger Assist”.

To conclude my letter I asked the Department a number of questions that I wanted some clarification on which were:

Please can I therefore have some clarification surrounding the following questions:

1. What technical standard will Great British Railways use to define “unassisted level boarding”, including maximum acceptable horizontal and vertical gaps between trains and platforms?
2. How will wheelchair users, including people using wheelchairs with small front castors, be involved in testing new train designs before they enter passenger service?
3. How will level boarding be delivered safely at stations where platform curvature, height or other infrastructure makes achieving genuinely level and gap-free boarding difficult?
4. Will the Government commit to ensuring that the introduction of level-boarding trains will not be used as a justification for reducing station staffing or Passenger Assist provision?
5. What further action will the Government take to improve the reliability and consistency of Passenger Assist across the railway before and during the introduction of Great British Railways?
6. Will Great British Railways introduce clear national standards and accountability for assistance, including effective communication and handovers between stations and staff?
7. How will the experiences of wheelchair users and other disabled passengers be incorporated into decisions about new rolling stock and station infrastructure on an ongoing basis, rather than solely through one-off consultations?

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Cam