R A I LT R AC K - The Railways Archive

developing
The costs of delivering
all of the ‘Modern
Facilities at Stations’
specifications with
accelerated renewal are
approximately £2.5bn
70
6.6 continued
Disabled access
We have improved access for disabled passengers at stations
this year, achieving the targets set in the 1998 NMS.By
31 March 1999,there will be an additional 119 stations (plus
the new stations built this year) across the network with
unassisted wheelchair access from the street,and a further
17 accessible toilets.In addition,many improvements have
been made for disabled passengers who do not use
wheelchairs,including induction loops,platform-edge tactile
paving,and better handrailing.
Most importantly we have been consulting this year on
our strategy for providing access for disabled people across
the whole network. Two consultation phases are complete
and the feedback has been very encouraging.
• 330 respondents expressed views in a number of areas.
• The majority expected the network to be accessible
within 10–20 years.
• Fewer than 10% of respondents disagreed with any of
the objectives in the consultation document.
• A lot of valuable suggestions were made by respondents
about implementation of policies – these will be subject
to further examination.
• Respondents thought that the highest priority should be
given to large stations (33%),to prevalence of
impairment (23%) and to localities where there was no
alternative accessible transport (15%).
We will conclude a more sophisticated methodology for
setting priorities incorporating the above feedback that will
be included in our forthcoming policy statement to be
issued in the middle of 1999.This will set out our policy to
deliver the Rail Regulator’s Code of Practice , reasonable
outputs from the policy, and the costs for and timescales to
implement the policy.
This coming year major plans will come to fruition for
lift access at Birmingham New Street and Paisley Gilmour
Street stations,the latter with partnership funding from
Strathclyde PTE.
Another important area is research to find better,
cheaper solutions to our access problems across the
network.Topics this year include platform-edge tactile paving
for people with visual impairments and lifts that can be used
safely at unstaffed stations.
Making the rail network accessible is a substantial task
that will take many years, but we have every confidence that,
together with our customers (and their investment in on-
train facilities),partners in government and the public, we will
be able to achieve it.
Investment costs
The costs of delivering all of the ‘Modern Facilities at
Stations’specifications with accelerated renewal of existing
facilities are approximately £2.5bn.
This figure includes £900M for platform-stepping
distance, and £300M for disabled access facilities.This latter
figure may be further refined in discussions with funders
early this summer.