Government research: Two thirds of disabled rail passengers face difficulty travelling by train

Thursday, July 11, 2019

The UK, Department for Transport after gauging the experiences of disabled travellers around the UK revealed that there were barriers to travel due to inaccessible toilets, closed ticket offices and attitude of other passengers.

There were 1,400 online survey responses, 150 face-to-face survey responses, 50 qualitative interviews, 12 expert interviews and 15 rail journeys conducted by the passengers who wore a small camera to capture their experience.

The report was compiled in collaboration with Transport Focus. Around 23 per cent had problems once they were onboard the train and three in 10 passengers had issues with lack of toilets and the attitude of others.

The disabled passengers were reported to being anxious and stated that problem with ‘hierarchy’ around priority seating indicated that those with less visible conditions were sometimes considered to be less deserving.

There were fairly low awareness of special assistance at stations and on trains and just over a third of respondents said they never pre-booked assistance.

It was reported that almost half of the disabled rail passengers anticipated problems with future rail travel and those travelling for commuting purposes being the most likely to anticipate barriers.

It was suggested that more was needed to improve accessibility and incase traveller’s confidence in using the rail network as majority of the disabled passengers stated that they would ideally prefer to travel by rail more frequently then they do at the moment.

The DfT said that they were acutely aware of the difficulties faced by disabled passengers using our railways, and they were working hard to deliver the upgrades needed. Since this research was commissioned over two years ago their  inclusive transport strategy has delivered step-free access at around 1,500 stations.

The DfT said that they were acutely aware of the difficulties faced by disabled passengers using our railways, and they were working hard to deliver the upgrades needed. Since this research was commissioned over two years ago their  inclusive transport strategy has delivered step-free access at around 1,500 stations.

James Taylor, head of policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at disability equality charity Scope, said that today’s research provides further evidence that demonstrates the service disabled people get from their  public transport system is patchy and inconsistent.

Problems like  inaccessible vehicles, poor customer service, and lack of up-to-date information can make it very difficult for disabled people to get to work, socialise and live independently.

This research has found half of disabled people anticipate experiencing a problem before it has happened when using the rail network.

The Government is going to take the issue seriously and will put funding into making the rail network more accessible for disabled people.

More work was needed from Government, transport companies and passenger groups to ensure that people with disability had the same level of service as everyone else.

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