Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
 Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 12:35 17 Mar 2025
 
- Small electric cars were said to be the future – but SUVs now rule the road
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]		 19/03/25 - WWRUG AGM
19/03/25 - Forum offline 00:00 - 02:00
21/03/25 - TravelWatch SouthWest
27/03/25 - MetroWest -> Wiltshire event

On this day
17th Mar (2018)
~ Research into use of TVMs (*)
Train RunningCancelled
11:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading
11:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
18/03/25 06:19 Par to Plymouth
19/03/25 06:19 Par to Plymouth
Short Run
10:20 Penzance to London Paddington
10:50 Penzance to Cardiff Central
10:59 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington
Delayed
10:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
10:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
10:48 London Paddington to Swansea
10:53 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
11:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
12:05 London Paddington to Penzance
12:17 Westbury to Swindon
•
PollsThere are no open or recent polls
•
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
•
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
•
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
•
Train companiesSelect from:
GWR
SWR
XC
Chiltern
TfL
TfW
WMR
Southern
• Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple Meads • Bath Spa • Chippenham • Swindon • Didcot Parkway • Reading • London Paddington • Melksham
Exeter St Davids • Taunton • Westbury • Trowbridge • Bristol Parkway • Cardiff Central • Oxford • Cheltenham Spa • Birmingham New Street
March 17, 2025, 12:52:48 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[95] Sad death of Shirley Pope, 82, and her dog, hit by train on fo...
[75] 2025 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury...
[50] RMT balloting for Industrial action on GWR
[48] Extra trains for the six Nations, 15.3.2025
[46] Plan for M4 to south coast corridor to avoid Bath, through Wes...
[44] Great British Railways
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Great Western Coffee Shop > All across the Great Western territory > Across the West > When will all stations be "fully accessible"?
Pages: [1]
« previous next »
  Print  
Author Topic: When will all stations be "fully accessible"?  (Read 2297 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 43611



View Profile WWW Email
« on: December 21, 2019, 12:56:14 »
From The Railway Hub

Quote
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.
Logged
Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
GBM
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1736


View Profile Email
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2019, 19:54:51 »
Does it mention lack of staff (especially at unmanned stations)!
Logged
Personal opinion only.  Writings not representative of any union, collective, management or employer. (Think that absolves me...........)
broadgage
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5655



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2019, 20:03:01 »
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.
Logged
A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
Chris from Nailsea
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 19420



View Profile Email
« Reply #3 on: Yesterday at 21:40:05 »
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.  Roll Eyes
Logged
William Huskisson MP▸ (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 43611



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #4 on: Today at 08:59:52 »
Quote from: Chris from Nailsea on Yesterday at 21:40:05
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.
Logged
Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
« previous next »
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of page • Jump to Forum Home Page