Underspend Exposes Failures of Access For All Rail Programme

It has been confirmed by Network Rail that their programme ‘Access for All’, designed to provide step-free access to platforms at railway stations has been “significantly” underperforming and as a result there is a major underspend of £99 million.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We are carrying out a comprehensive review into our Access for All schemes so we can better deliver for our passengers [...] we are so sorry for the delays to these projects and we are working as hard as we can to get them back on track.”

A lacklustre and unaccountable statement from Network Rail stated that 'plans fell short of where we wanted them to be for a variety of reasons.’ This fails to recognise that this significant issue means those who have a range of disabilities may be in for a much longer wait to get to their local rail station - a further setback for the aims of equality in accessing rail services.

Stephen Brookes, DR UK Rail Policy Adviser, says ‘It is clear that Access for All has been a failure mainly because it has not seen a dedicated, centrally controlled delivery team working on it - there is only peripheral interest in accessibility from the industry’s leadership. It’s time for such matters to change.’

It must be noted that any improvements to physical access would only benefit Disabled people if the human resources surrounding them are sufficient and that unmanned stations include improvements to physical access to benefit Disabled people who need clear and practical information to ensure they are aware of what improvements have been made, and that more travel options are now possible as a result.

DR UK do note that the new Labour government has to date been silent on how they are going to improve accessibility across our rail network, although in pre-election statements they said that a future Labour government would work closely with Disabled people to develop bold ideas to ensure we have a scheme that works for Disabled people that isn’t overly bureaucratic. However, so far nothing has been brought to the table.

Brookes makes clear that at current rates of use of investments, full station accessibility will take over 100 years, and it is outrageous that this issue is not being addressed in the government’s plans for rail reform. Disability Rights UK call on the Department for Transport and Network Rail to ensure that funding for making stations accessible gets to where it’s needed to benefit Disabled people and ensure that such funds are spent quickly and effectively so that there is no more of the need for apologies for lack of progress.

He said, ‘There needs to be a complete culture change at the Dft and Network Rail around accessibility which too often is viewed as a gift and not as a need.’

We need to be assured that any review of this failing is meaningful and has a specific and clear date for catch-up delivery.