Access to public transport is for many a necessity of everyday life. At ORR we recognise the importance of the rail network being open to everyone regardless of disability. It is our role to oversee that the operators of trains and stations enable passengers with a disability to make their journeys easily and confidently, whether those journeys are made independently or with assistance. This blog explains ORR’s accessibility role and our current work.
ORR's role
All train and station operators are required to have and comply with a disabled people's protection policy (DPPP). This sets out the assistance that an operator will provide to protect the interests of disabled people using its services. We approve these policies and monitor compliance with them.
If we find that an operator is not meeting these standards, we take action to make them do so. This ranges from a simple discussion with the operator reminding them of their responsibilities, to carrying out additional monitoring, requiring a review of its DPPP or, where there is evidence of systemic and serious failures, we can open a formal investigation that could result in enforcement action.
ORR is also responsible for enforcing accessibility from a safety perspective against a set of requirements which set out what accessibility standards new trains must meet.
Assistance to help passengers travel
Passengers with disabilities can either book assistance in advance or request assistance at the time of travel. Where assistance has been booked in advance we expect that assistance to be delivered by train and station operators. In the case of turn up and go or spontaneous travel the requirement is to provide assistance to passengers who arrive at a station and require assistance to allow them to travel, where reasonably practicable.
Every request for assistance should be based on an assessment of passenger needs, station facilities and staff availability (both train and station) and there is not a one size fits all approach. We expect operators to be able to provide assistance to passengers in a variety of different scenarios. This will require an accurate understanding and assessment of the needs of the passenger, station accessibility, station staffing times, train staffing levels and unexpected issues such as a lift being out of order.
Therefore, we expect operators to consider a variety of ways of providing passengers with assistance including, for example, the use of alternative accessible transport, such as a taxi (this service being provided free of charge to the passenger) and the ability to use staff flexibly to ensure that assistance can be delivered either by on-board staff, station staff or mobile staff where such working practices are routinely operated or can be accommodated to provide the assistance required.
Our current focus
Our research has shown that where assisted travel works as it should, passengers find it a good service. But current guidance in this area is out of date and there is scope to improve passenger awareness of assisted travel, the reliability of the service and staff training.
That’s why we are currently reviewing DPPPs. To help inform this work, we’ve set up an advisory group, which includes industry, DfT and disability groups and are expecting to consult further in the autumn.
You can find out more about our work on our website.