Nailsea and Backwell station, which has steps to one platform and a very steep slope to the other, was due to have had ramps installed at both platforms more than 10 years ago but £1m funding was withdrawn in 2014 after a deadline to start the work was missed.

A severely visually-impaired woman said she crossed railway tracks alone to catch a train, after station staff she had booked to help her did not turn up.

Kath Vickery has now started a petition to improve assistance arrangements after feeling "too anxious" to use her local station - Yeovil Pen Mill in Somerset - following the "really scary experience".

Great Western Railway (GWR) apologised and said it was exploring how to "deliver more robust staffing".

Figures show 10 out of 62 stations (16%) across the West of England have either no step-free access or issues with at least one platform. The Department for Transport said improving accessibility is "at the centre" of its decision-making.

Ms Vickery uses a cane and needs assistance when navigating railway stations. She said the incident happened in August 2024 - although she only started her petition recently after other more minor incidents.

Yeovil Pen Mill has a stepped footbridge to get to one of its platforms, but staff are able to help people across the tracks using a private level crossing reached by a ramp, if needed.

"When I got there I was a bit stuck because the ticket office was shut and that's usually where I find staff," she said. "I didn't feel comfortable going across the bridge on my own. I walked down to the track crossing in the hope someone would help. I rang the passenger assist call centre, I had a 13-minute conversation with them - they accidentally cut me off transferring me to someone - in the end I managed to attract the attention of someone at the station who told me I could cross, so then I had to run across the track crossing and up the platform to get my train. It was a really scary experience for me and obviously not great for safety, and still really affects me now."



Passenger assistance can be booked in advance for rail journeys - by phone, online or using an app - and is confirmed with the passenger. When assistance has been booked, if staff are then unable to fulfil that, the passenger is meant to be informed and GWR said it offers alternatives including a free taxi to the nearest accessible station.

Staff are meant to be available at Yeovil Pen Mill from 07:20 to 18:25 on weekdays, other than a lunch break, with shorter hours at weekends.

Ms Vickery used to use the station every week or two to get to medical appointments and ad hoc self-employed work in Bristol and Weymouth. She said she has recently had to turn down work in Weymouth as she felt unable to rely on the assistance she would receive at Yeovil Pen Mill.

Ms Vickery said losing the option of using the railway station long-term would be a "disaster" for her, with the only alternative to Bristol being a three-hour bus journey. "It's not like I've got the choice between driving and catching a train - the choices I have are very, very limited and that's why making sure the station is staffed its scheduled hours is so very important to me," she said.

She said she had two cancellations of assistance in the last year in addition to the experience in August 2024 when she was not informed the station would be unstaffed. "I think it's really important that disabled people have equal opportunity to use services and that includes train stations - and in order to use the train station I need there to be staff there," Ms Vickery said.

A spokesperson for GWR said: "We recognise that staffing gaps during holiday periods have impacted advertised opening hours at Yeovil Pen Mill, and we apologise for any inconvenience this causes passengers like Kath who rely on staff assistance. While our dedicated team works hard to maintain coverage, we know that we need to increase the staff relief pool to consistently staff all stations during peak leave periods, and we're exploring opportunities to deliver more robust staffing."



According to the disabled-led campaign group Transport for All a quarter (25%) of UK train stations have step-free access with 11% of stations staffed at all times.

Of Somerset's 10 national rail stations, four (40%) do not have step-free access to all platforms, which can be used independently of station staff, according to information listed on the National Rail website.

For example, Castle Cary station, on the Paddington mainline, has a stepped footbridge to the westbound platform meaning passengers need staff available to help them across the tracks.

Across the West of England, 10 out of 62 stations (16%) have either no step-free access, like Avoncliff and Freshford in Wiltshire, or issues with at least one platform.

Nailsea and Backwell station, which has steps to one platform and a very steep slope to the other, was due to have had ramps installed at both platforms more than 10 years ago but £1m funding was withdrawn in 2014 after a deadline to start the work was missed.



A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said it was "taking action to make rail travel easier and more reliable for disabled passengers". They added this included investing more than £10m to upgrade the Passenger Assist scheme, publishing a rail accessibility roadmap and improving information about the facilities available to provide support to passengers at stations.

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Isn't that dependent on how cleanly generated the electricity used to power them is?

TRAINS are being cancelled along the Weymouth to Bristol line due to staff shortages.

11:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 14:23 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will no longer call at Great Malvern, Malvern Link and Worcester Foregate Street.
This is due to a broken down train.
Will be formed of 9 coaches instead of 5.
Additional Facilities Information
Reservations for Coach D in Coach K.
Last Updated:09/10/2025 11:48

13:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 16:15 will be started from Reading.
It will no longer call at London Paddington.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.
Last Updated:09/10/2025 11:59

At a meeting of Cornwall Council's sustainable growth scrutiny committee today (Tuesday, October 7 [2025]), Kevin Towill - Reform UK councillor for Newquay Porth and Tretherras - said: "It was always envisaged from the beginning of the Mid Cornwall Metro project that the train would stop at the villages - including Roche and Bugle - but I've heard a rumour this might not be happening now and the train will be running right through without stopping." He asked Cllr Dan Rogerson, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for transport, to clarify.

Cllr Rogerson said: "It is correct that the hourly service to Newquay will not stop at every station. I think it's more like a two-hourly service to those stations, which is not ideal. We want to encourage people to be able to get to a frequency of travel like perhaps there is on the Truro to Falmouth route which is half-hourly where people don't have to plan ahead quite so much and can hop on.

"There are real opportunities to do better in the future but for now, unfortunately, it will be an hourly service to Newquay and slightly less frequently to some of those clay country stations, which is not what I want to see, but that's where we're starting."

A recent report by the Diocese of Truro and Plymouth Marjon University found that poor transport links are hitting rural areas of Cornwall, particularly in the clay country area.

Station Hall at the National Railway Museum reopens following £11million transformation

Restoration and conservation work to refresh the interior and exterior of the Grade II listed Station Hall, including the installation of 632 photovoltaic roofing panels.

On Friday 26 September, the refurbished Grade II listed Station Hall reopens after an £11m transformation in time to celebrate the National Railway Museum's 50th birthday weekend (27–28 September) and Railway 200, the bicentenary of the modern railway.

As part of the restoration works which started in 2023, Buttress Architects have undertaken a major re-roofing project which saw the entire 6000m² roof come off the Station Hall building, whilst the historic locomotives were left in-situ and shrouded with protective scaffolding to shield them whilst the works were carried out. This is the museum’s biggest structural project since its opening in 1975.

Buttress worked alongside the National Railway Museum team in York to painstakingly ensure that all the historical locomotives and carriages - including Queen Victoria’s train, King Edward’s train Queen Mary’s and the Queen Mother’s train - were protected from the works above...

FAMILIES in Melksham are raising concerns about the cost of school transport to Corsham School, saying current fares are unaffordable for many households.

A petition has been launched asking Wiltshire Council to review its school transport policy and consider ways to make travel more affordable, particularly for families on lower incomes.

The petition states, “Currently, the fare is £315 per term per child.  For many families, especially single-parent households and those already facing rising living costs, this is simply unaffordable.  Education should be accessible to all children, and the cost of transport should not be a barrier to attending a school that best meets their needs.”

One parent said, “I recognise that it is my choice to send my child to a secondary school outside of the town, but I do feel that the cost of transport is very high. There are some families whose children’s needs aren’t being met at the local option, but the cost of transport to other schools is so high that they might not have the option to look elsewhere, especially if they have more than one child or are on lower incomes.”

However, Wiltshire Council has explained that under national school transport guidance, children are entitled to free transport only if they live more than three miles from their nearest or designated school. For families in Melksham, this is Melksham Oak Community School.

Cabinet Member for Highways, Cllr Martin Smith, said, “Children from low-income households who qualify for free school meals may be eligible for free transport to one of the three nearest schools, located between two and six miles from their home. In some cases, this may include Corsham School.  “Where parents choose a school that is not the closest or designated school, and the child does not qualify under low-income criteria, the responsibility for transport costs lies with the family. While the council does consider individual circumstances, exceptions are unlikely to be granted where the choice of school is based on educational preference or domestic arrangements.”

The 555 bus service to Corsham School is operated independently by Faresaver as a commercial venture, with fares set by the company based on operational costs.

The petition calls on Wiltshire Council to review its school transport policy, seeking a reduction in fares or subsidised travel for families on lower incomes, greater flexibility in providing assistance for children attending schools further afield, and a commitment to ensuring all children have equal access to education.

Faresaver has been contacted for comment

Been reported elsewhere that units 175 111 and 175 115 are currently being hauled from storage at Ely to Wolverton works by locos 93006 and 93002

Yes.  Or more niche ones like gaining approval to increase the footfall of the unusual and outdated method of getting from the car park to the station by crossing the track.

Newts, just for example.