POLITICAL leaders in the North of England are calling for significant investment in the region’s railway stations to make them accessible to all users.
Research from Transport for the North (TfN) highlights that most stations in the North are difficult or impossible for too many people to use.
It found that:
Fewer than half the stations in the North have step-free access
More than six-in-ten stations don’t have fully accessible waiting shelters
Nearly a quarter have no public address systems
TfN analysis shows that at the current rate of investment the North’s rail stations would not all be step-free until the 22nd Century. This is holding back the economy – making it difficult for those that live and work in the North to access jobs, education and training, services and opportunities.
Poor accessibility means many passengers are in need of support and assistance to travel with confidence – yet over half the North’s stations are completely unstaffed.
And inadequate lighting and CCTV mean that station environments often feel unsafe, especially to women and girls in particular.
TfN has now written to the Transport Secretary seeking a commitment to the investment needed to fix this, and quickly.
Political leaders in the North want the Government to share their commitment to make investment in accessibility and safety of railway stations a priority. And they say devolution of accessibility budgets to Northern Mayors and political leaders is essential to speed up delivery and ensure decisions, like accessibility, are made in the North, by the North, for the North.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and Chair of the TfN’s Rail North Committee, has written to the Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander asking for an additional £400 million over five years. This would help address some of the accessibility issues.
Mayor Burnham said: “Accessibility is key. A rail network has to be for everybody. The simple ability to get around is a right that should be available to all our communities.
“We have tactile paving in our urban spaces and step-free access in key public buildings, and we need that accessibility extended to our whole rail network. Without that we close off opportunities to lots of our people and businesses.
“We are calling on the Government to address these accessibility challenges and create a more inclusive rail network for all rail passengers to use.
“If it works for the Northern economy, it benefits the national economy too.”
North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, said: “Everyone should be able to travel with confidence, and it is so important that transport networks improve accessibility without delay to make this a reality across the board.
“Our own North East Metro system was the first in the UK to have step-free access throughout and tactile paving on every platform, as well as having a network of more than 500 digital CCTV cameras which is particularly reassuring for those travelling at night. The national rail system lags decades behind and we need to fix this so everyone can travel with ease and dignity.
“We need devolution of our stations and rail networks so that we can bring the standard up right across the UK, accessibility should be at the heart of every network alongside safety – particularly for vulnerable groups and women and girls.”
TfN’s research includes a report, published today, that is based on the responses from over 2000 public transport users across the North.
It also found that many people were being priced off the rail network – with most people reporting difficulty with the cost of tickets.
TfN is calling for accessibility to be a top consideration when planning new infrastructure for the North’s railway, and specifying new train services.
