Public transport should work for everyone. Yet for millions – wheelchair users, parents with pushchairs, older people, and anyone with mobility challenges – it’s a daily struggle.
The Government must take action by fixing their ‘Access for All’ scheme, mandating step-free access for new and modernised stations, and holding rail operators, Network Rail, and Transport for London accountable for maintaining accessibility.
Over 16 million people in the UK have a disability, yet they take 28% fewer journeys than non-disabled people. That’s not a coincidence, it’s a consequence of our failing transport system. Only a quarter of train stations are fully step-free, leaving vast parts of the network off-limits.
A Transport for All study found just 13% of disabled passengers feel confident using trains, while 10% avoid them entirely. The biggest barrier? The lack of step-free access. Until that changes, millions will continue to be excluded.
The Government’s ‘Access for All’ scheme, launched in 2006, was meant to fix this. It has funded upgrades at 300 stations – including Motspur Park and Worcester Park stations in my own constituency. However, after a strong start, it has stalled in recent years.
As Lord Hendy, the current Rail Minister, and then Chair of Network Rail, admitted in May 2024 the programme has “significantly underperformed” since 2019.
Of 149 planned step-free projects, just 77 were completed with, in what must be a record for infrastructure projects in this county, a £99 million underspend.
Some stations that were approved for step-free access over a decade ago are still waiting but it’s hard to discover why. We know the Government has reviewed why there’s been hold-ups but they’ve not published the findings. It’s time for transparency and action.
I’m also concerned about what happens when stations are built or modernised, as step-free access isn’t even guaranteed then.
If a station serves fewer than 1,000 passengers a day and there’s another step-free station on the same line within 50km (yes 50km!) they merely have to put in provision to add step-free access at a later date. While there is clearly a logic to wanting to spread step-free access around the network, expecting those living with disabilities to travel 50km to access the railway is absurd. Furthermore, retrofitting accessibility later is more expensive and disruptive than getting it right the first time. Why are we still cutting corners?
Even where step-free access exists, it’s often unreliable. Between April and October last year, there were over 5,000 lift faults on the Network Rail system – a 9% increase on the previous year. Worse, passenger ‘entrapments’ in broken lifts shot up by over 20%, with nearly 400 incidents in just six months.
The London Underground is even worse. Just 92 out of 272 stations are step-free, and even these are frequently out of action. A recent Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information request revealed that in 2023, lifts were working, but unusable, for over 6,000 hours due to staff shortages. Wimbledon Park station was the worst, with its lifts out of action 132 times. In 2019, the Mayor of London promised the London Assembly that he’d sort this out, but it’s simply got worse – the time has come for the Government to intervene.
The Government needs to step up. First, it must fix ‘Access for All’ – no more delays, no more underspending. Second, it must amend the regulations so that new and modernised stations are always required to include step-free access. Third, it must hold rail operators, Network Rail and Transport for London accountable for keeping lifts operational and stations accessible.
Accessibility isn’t a luxury. It’s a basic right. It’s time that we deliver a transport system that works for everyone.
