3 Improving accessibility and integration
8. Most of Britain's railway stations are over 100
years old and 15% are listed buildings, restricting the ways in
which they can be maintained and improved. More than half of Britain's
stations are not fully accessible to disabled people, but it would
require significant funds. It would be expensive to make every
station step-free. In response to the requirements of the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995, Network Rail and TOCs were working to
provide alternative options such as assistance from station staff
to make train services accessible. ATOC had published a map showing
which stations had step-free access and indicating whether stations
were staffed throughout train running hours. If disabled passengers
booked their tickets at least 24 hours before travelling, Network
Rail and TOCs would aim to provide staff assistance. It would
be for the courts to decide whether these practices constituted
the reasonable adjustments required under the Disability Discrimination
Act 1995. Beyond these adjustments, however, progress had been
slow in improving accessibility at stations. The Department acknowledged
that there should be better facilities for visually and hearing
impaired passengers, for example. There were, however, questions
about affordability and value for money in installing such systems
at every station. The Department had earmarked over £370
million to be spent on improving accessibility at Britain's busiest
stations by 2015 and was prioritising how the money should be
spent in consultation with groups representing disabled people.
The Department and Network Rail acknowledged, however, that more
funding would be needed, and that it would have to look for further
funding in the Office of Rail Regulation's periodic review in
2009-14 to improve accessibility more widely on the network.[12]
9. The Department had limited leverage to improve
the integration of local bus and train services, in support of
the government's integrated transport objective. In the deregulated
bus market outside London, private bus operators responded to
commercial incentives in determining their bus routes, and timetables.
Better signposting from train stations to local bus stops and
displaying bus maps, routes and timetables prominently at stations,
would help passengers connecting between buses and trains. More
efficient interchanges were needed between rail, buses and community
transport to improve stations' accessibility.[13]
12 Qq 33, 35-39, 85, 109, 112-114, 137-138 Back
13
Qq 18, 83-85 Back
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