The last few hours or so have seen disabled football supporters given the opportunity to travel by rail to matches between West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City along with a Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Brentford.
Since the beginning of 2024, blue and white boxes that feature a white wheelchair logo and the words for mobility assistance please wait here have been installed on the platforms at The Hawthorns, Aston and Witton railway stations.
All three stations are managed by the publicly funded rail operator, West Midlands Railway.
As a massive wheelchair using Aston Villa supporter who used to travel by train to matches at Villa Park in Birmingham as often as I could, I found it challenging when waiting on the platforms at Witton after matches when there were a lot of other supporters standing around me. 
Capturing footage of what I experienced in October 2023 following a European night at Villa Park was quite simply a game changer for our community who use the railways when attending football matches across the region.
Just a month after I captured the footage I was able to share it with the team at the rail operator during a meeting that I had with them about my experiences as a wheelchair user when using the railways to attend football matches.
Much to my surprise, this allowed them to realise that assisted travel for those with disabilities or mobility issues was a massive issue for us after matches across the rail network that they manage.
Nearly 3 years on from when this journey began, there are now waiting spaces and accompanying signage on the platforms at the train stations which serve three of the biggest football and event arenas in the region.
Hopefully the spaces are making a real difference to the disabled football fans that use the railways every other week when attending football matches at the stadium of their favourite team.
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It is anyway that I take this opportunity to once again thank the entire team at West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern railway who understood the challenges I and others faced when using the rail network to attend football matches.
Doing something positive to make a change for the better really has not gone unnoticed and is of course very much appreciated and always will be.
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 does not go unnoticed and is of course very much appreciated.
Cam
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