Менее 20% станций на ключевом маршруте Northern Rail признаны полностью доступными для людей с ограниченными возможностями

Less than 20 per cent of stations on a major Northern Rail route have been rated fully accessible. There are only three out of 16 stations on the Millom to Lancaster trainline currently rated as Category A stations, meaning that all platforms can be accessed without assistance. This comes after Barrow-in-Furness, one of the few Category A stations, had no step-free access for several days last week because a lift stopped working. Barrow, Grange-over-Sands and Lancaster are the only stations on the line with full step-free access for travellers with accessibility needs. At Millom station, access between the two platforms involves a lengthy walk in excess of 400m. A Northern Trains spokesperson said: “Our services call at more than 500 stations across the North of England and we are working hard, both here at Northern and with external industry partners, to improve accessibility at as many of those as possible to give more people the confidence to travel.” The rest of the stations on the line are rated as Category B, meaning they have a degree of step-free access to all or some platforms, but may feature physical barriers like steep ramps, long transit routes, or limited-hours access. The rail company said they had done some work on the route to make stations more accessible, such as installing electronic doors at Ulverston station. However, they said significant upgrades made at stations managed by Northern often require multi-million pound investments, which must be agreed on by the government, Network Rail and the relevant local authorities. Many of them are delivered through the government’s Access for All (AfA) programme. Disability rights campaign group Transport for All state on their website that: “Due to the inaccessibility of rail infrastructure, many disabled people rely upon staff assistance to travel by train.” This is complicated by the fact that only 11 per cent of stations across the country are staffed at all times, according to the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee. The National Travel Survey 2021 found that people with a ‘mobility difficulty’ made on average 2 rail trips per year, as opposed to 14 trips per year completed for the average person with ‘no mobility difficulty’. Nearly nine in 10 of disabled people surveyed last year for the House of Commons transport committee said they often or always had difficulties when travelling. Northern Trains said that alternative arrangements for disabled customers who wish to travel to stations with less step-free access can be made by calling them and requesting assistance. This can be done by contacting the Customer Experience Centre or their Assisted Travel Support Team. The stations with Category B access are Millom, Green Road, Foxfield, Kirkby-in-Furness, Askam, Roose, Dalton, Ulverston, Cark, Kents Bank, Arnside, Silverdale and Carnforth.