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.