When will all stations be "fully accessible"?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The Railway Hub

A target to make Britain’s railway stations fully accessible by 2030 is set to be missed by 40 years, according to a disability charity.

Leonard Cheshire claimed all stations will not be step-free until 2070 if the current rate of enhancement work continues.

It warned that inaccessible stations are stopping people such as wheelchair users from travelling by train.

[GBM]

Does it mention lack of staff (especially at unmanned stations)!

[broadgage]

I very much doubt that all stations will EVER be fully accessible, or indeed that that all trains will ever be accessible.

If there is any risk of most stations becoming accessible by todays standards, then the standards will have to be updated to require a greater degree of accessibility than is the case today. Trains ditto.

"step free access" could be replaced by a requirement for completely level access from street to interior of train for example. And of course accessibility could be extended to include not just physical access but also announcements and information. More signs for the hearing impaired and more  announcements for the visually impaired. And ever changing standards for both.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Catching up (rather belatedly, for which I apologise) with this topic here:

I, too, doubt that they will ever be 'fully accessible'.

Using Nailsea & Backwell station as my local example: here we have a rather steep slope up to platform 2, but that has to be accessed from some distance along the road, Station Close.

There is no disabled access slope up to (or down from) platform 1.  There simply isn't anywhere to build it, on the embankment below our elevated station.

The solution would be to build a new set of lifts - but that was last costed at around £1million, so that isn't ever going to happen, purely for the 'cost benefit ratio' numbers.

Chris from Nailsea. 

[grahame]

Catching up (rather belatedly, for which I apologise) with this topic here:

I, too, doubt that they will ever be 'fully accessible'.

An opportunity to add a few words so, thanks, Chris - thought I am getting older and forget what I posted years ago.

The other way - and we should be careful - of making "all stations accessible" is to close those which have low passenger numbers and are difficult to do.   Or if it's very hard to make the platform in one direction accessible, close of all access to it and have people "bounce back" at the next station along.   I'm not saying it would be done at Nailsea and Backwell, but it's already done at Pilning.  And if you keep one direction open it's not going to involve a pesky and expensive closure procedure.