Farron highlights inaccessible train stations

Westmorland & Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has written to the Secretary of State for Transport about disabled access and the railway network.

Tim tweeted about it: "Disabled rail passengers face restrictions at 1 in 10 stations in Britain.

"The stress and anxiety this must give to disabled people who are just trying to go about their daily lives is shameful.

"I've written to the Transport Secretary urging him to make all stations accessible."

He added:

"The Government's Access For All Scheme clearly aims to take steps to address this in a piecemeal way. However the scheme only benefits a very limited number of stations and those smaller stations in rural areas are far more likely to miss out on funding."

Tim's letter to the Transport Secretary is reproduced below in plain text as an alternative to the photo in his tweet:

TIM FARRON MP
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SW1A OAA

The Rt Hon Mark Harper MP
Secretary of State for Transport
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London

6th February 2023

Dear Mark

I write to represent my constituents with regard to the appalling discrimination that disabled people face when trying to travel by train.

According to data compiled by the Association of British Commuters, more than one in 10 railway stations in Britain do not allow disabled passengers to "turn up and go" on some or all train services.

The voluntary group says six rail operators have staffing policies that mean disabled passengers cannot simply turn up and travel on certain services at nearly 300 stations.

Instead, they have to pre-book their journey, wait for staff to arrive from another station to assist them or give up on traveling from that station.

The stress and anxiety this must give to disabled people who are just trying to go about their daily lives is shameful.

Many stations in our country still remain completely unfit for purpose for people with any kind of mobility issue.

Here in South Cumbria alone, we have restrictive access issues at numerous stations including Arnside, Oxenholme, Ulverston, and Staveley - where the platform is only accessible by climbing 41 steep steps.

The Government's Access For All Scheme clearly aims to take steps to address this in a piecemeal way. However, the scheme will only benefit a very limited number of stations and those smaller stations in rural areas are far more likely to miss out on funding."

"When the Government says 'Access For All', it really should mean it."

Back in October last year, I put forward an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which would have placed a legal duty on you to make sure that every station meets national accessibility standards. Sadly this amendment was defeated by Conservative MPs on the committee.

I implore you to reconsider this amendment and stop the discrimination that disabled people face every day on our railways.

Yours sincerely

Tim Farron MP