Letter from MP and activists demands rights and accessibility improvements to railways bill

Disabled campaigners are backing demands for major rights-based changes to the government’s railways bill that would target the poor state of accessibility across the network.

Disabled-led organisations and allies including Disabled People Against Cuts, the Campaign for Level Boarding and The Association of British Commuters (ABC) have signed a letter being sent today (Thursday) to transport secretary Heidi Alexander.

The letter from backbench Labour MP Chris Hinchliff calls for major amendments to the government’s railways bill, changes which campaigners believe would place disability rights and accessibility at the heart of the legislation.

The bill will create Great British Railways, a new publicly-owned company that will bring together management of passenger services and rail infrastructure.

But there has been criticism of the Labour government for weakening its commitment to accessibility and rights in its rail reforms.

The amendments being proposed by Hinchliff – and backed by 18 disability organisations, disabled activists and allies – would put a “strong passenger rights and disability rights duty at the centre of Great British Railways” and make sure this was the main duty of a new, stronger passenger watchdog with powers to enforce breaches of these rights.

The amendments would also create duties on ministers, Great British Railways and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to achieve full rail accessibility, reduce socioeconomic disadvantage, and have regard for the environment.

Those signing the letter believe that targeting full rail accessibility is “urgently overdue” because the current Access for All rail accessibility scheme is “highly discredited”.

Hinchliff says in the letter – which has been coordinated by ABC co-founder Emily Sullivan – that the amendments would meet some of the key demands on accessibility and discrimination made in last year’s Access Denied report by the Commons transport committee, a report described by disabled campaigners at the time as “fabulous” and “validating”.

That report called on the government and industry to recognise “urgently” that the “regularity and severity” of public transport access failures was a human rights issue.

This week’s letter also calls on Alexander to meet with Hinchliff and some of the campaigners who have signed his letter to discuss the amendments.

Others signing the letter include Transport for All, Inclusion London, The National Federation of the Blind of the UK, Transport Action Network, and National Pensioners Convention, and accessible transport campaigners Baroness [Tanni] Grey-Thompson, Doug Paulley, Christiane Link, and Sarah Leadbetter.

Sullivan said yesterday: “The amendments work together to create an equality and rights framework for the railways bill.

“This is urgent because the bill has drastically deregulated enforcement standards, moving accessibility and passenger rights away from the ORR to a much weaker passenger watchdog.

“The new passenger and disability rights duty would fix the worst effects of this and make rights-based regulation a core responsibility for all parties.

“The other priority of the amendments is to create much stronger duties for investment in accessibility, climate and socioeconomic equality; including requiring the government to bring down the price of fares and create integrated fares policies designed for equality and climate outcomes.

“The new accessibility duty we have proposed is absolutely vital because it would commit the government to setting and achieving targets.

“This is the best chance we have to guarantee a national action plan towards full accessibility, and fix the failed Access for All funding system that has held back progress for so long.

“The new approach based on targets should reflect the state’s duty to invest ‘to the maximum of available resources’ in equality and be based on international best practice, such as the Accessible Canada Act.”

Meanwhile, the Commons transport committee has published a new report that calls for tougher measures on accessibility in the railways bill, and for the bill to ensure that at least two members of a new Passengers’ Council board must have experience of travelling as a disabled person.

Picture by ORR