Today (Saturday October the 10th, 2026), I travelled by rail as a wheelchair user from Hereford to the BP Pulse in Birmingham for the 2026 edition of the Horse of the Year Show.
Recent experiences of using the assisted travel service at New Street railway station in the centre of the city (Birmingham), meant that I was really nervous about how my journey to and from the show would go.
Those of you reading this will know that earlier this year I wrote to the `Minister for Rail and HS2 at the Department for Transport, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE about the challenges that I have faced in recent months when using the service in the second city, Birmingham.
In my letter dated July the 20th, 2026 I recalled that I had witnessed what could only be described as unprofessional behaviour by staff in the assisted travel lounge when discussing complaints from passengers about how the service is currently offered to those with disabilities or mobility issues.
I also added that there had been some times where my booked assistance had been cancelled by staff or the ramp had not been sufficiently secured to the carriage of the train before I was allowed to leave a service at New Street station from Hereford.
On the 21st of September, 2026, I received a response from the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander MP who informed me that she had raised my concerns about the state of the assisted travel service in Birmingham with Network Rail who are responsible for the management of the station.
She also added that they (Network Rail) take concerns relating to passenger assistance very seriously and that officials from the organisation wanted to reach out directly to me so that they could understand my concerns in more detail and then go onto investigate them properly.
Today is the first time that I have travelled to the railway station since writing to the government about this issue, so I was a little bit nervous about what level of service I would experience from the passenger assistance team when travelling through the station to the show.
Recently I have chosen not to use the assisted travel lounge and self board services with the support of staff from the train operators which I am using and that is largely because of the service I have received from the staff in the ALT (Assisted Travel Lounge).
Due to travelling with West Midlands railway to Birmingham International I had booked assistance for with the support of the passenger Assistance team at the station I was able to board the train without heading into the assisted travel lounge. 
To say that I will continue to call out things that go wrong when using the service in the future is an understatement because the service needs to dramatically improve both in Birmingham and across the United Kingdom at stations where the service is managed by Network Rail.
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It is only right that I take this opportunity to thank the train crew from West Midlands Railway who insured that I was able to board and disembark services at Birmingham International Birmingham International your support did not go unnoticed and as of course very much appreciated.
A thank you should also go to the Transport Secretary for raising my concerns with Network Rail regarding the issues I have recently experienced when using the assisted travel service at New Street.
Once again your support has not gone unnoticed and is of course very much appreciated, I hope the teams at the station learn from my experiences and work to change there practices when delivering this service to passengers with disabilities or mobility issues.
Finally, thank you to each and everyone of you my regular loyal readers and social media followers who continually take the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest posts it has not gone unnoticed and is of course very much appreciated.
Cam
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