Wealden Railway Stations: Disability Access

Nusrat Ghani Excerpts

Wednesday 7th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Ms Nusrat Ghani (Wealden) (Con)]

The whole country and this House seem to be distracted, Mr Speaker, but I hope you agree with me that there is nothing more important than this debate on the matter of disability access at Crowborough, Eridge, Uckfield, Frant and Wadhurst train stations in my constituency of Wealden. Train travel is a vital form of transport for Wealden residents, and securing improvements to rail services and the stations in Wealden remains one of my priorities.

Having served as a Transport Minister, I was once responsible for delivering the groundbreaking accessibility strategy called the inclusive transport strategy to ensure that public transport was more inclusive and better accessible for those with disabilities. It was actually the world’s first strategy to align itself with the United Nations accessibility goals, and it paved the way for equal access for disabled people on all transport networks. It promotes provisions such as step-free access, changing facilities at motorway service stations and the enhanced passenger assistance service.

While building this strategy, I worked with many disability groups, service providers and bodies that take care of the infrastructure to address the barriers on transport networks for those with visible and invisible disabilities. As I was then, so I am today grateful for their help in preparing this speech. I am grateful in particular to Leonard Cheshire and its paper entitled “Get on Board 2020: Making the economic case for ‘levelling up’ inclusive transport”. I hope the Minister can reference it in this remarks. I am also grateful, of course, to Transport for All and particularly Mr Alan Benson.

Today, however, I want to focus on the rail network and stations in my constituency of Wealden. Some 41% of rail stations in Britain are not step-free, and in the south-east this rises to 52%—and of course Wealden is nestled in East Sussex—but we have had some success, especially at Eridge and Crowborough stations, thanks to our Conservative Government. I am grateful for the funds that I have already secured for fantastic accessibility upgrades to our local stations. As a part of the Access for All fund, both Eridge and Crowborough stations are currently undergoing multi-million-pound refurbishments to ensure step-free access. The staircase and bridge at Eridge station were removed last year and are being replaced a new, modern footbridge. A new lift shaft is being constructed and automatic doors will also be installed. Similar construction is under way at Crowborough station.

I am proud to have been part of the upgrades for both Eridge and Crowborough. But there is a tiny issue with Eridge, which was brought to my attention by Tim Barkley, the chair of the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership community interest group. Apparently, GTR is making volunteers park at a distance from Eridge station because blue badge parking is not being issued there. That is an issue: we need to make sure that blue badge parking at the station is close to the lift and that volunteers can access the station as the refurb carries on.

I now want to touch on improvements at Wadhurst and Frant stations. I am pleased that, working with Guide Dogs UK, we have been able to secure safety improvements at Wadhurst and Frant station platforms for visually impaired commuters. The warning tactile and painted contrasting lines on station platforms will help orientation and safety. It is incredibly important that we focus on both visible and invisible disabilities when it comes to making stations accessible.

I am incredibly pleased with the Guide Dogs UK campaign, which has also focused on what Network Rail can do to support people with visual impairment. Mr Alan Benson from Transport for All has raised an issue with me. Apparently, tactile paving is missing or incomplete across most of the network; that was raised particularly following the unfortunate death at Eden Park station. I hope that the Minister can confirm that Network Rail will be encouraged to prioritise the installation of tactile pavements, so that those with visual impairments can feel safe too.

I would, of course, also like to see step-free access at Wadhurst and Frant; I am hoping that the Minister can make a nod in a positive direction so that when we put in an application for funding, we will also be successful there.

I now draw the Minister’s attention to the Uckfield line, which causes the most amount of tension for my constituents. It used to be called “the misery line” and for quite some time we have been trying to get it electrified and get a depot at Crowborough; at the moment the line is a real dinosaur. It would be fantastic if we could have an upgrade. As the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Southern Rail, I have raised this matter repeatedly with the Department, the Minister and his predecessors. It would be fantastic if the Minister could make reference to that at the Dispatch Box or write to me to say if the campaign for an upgrade to the Uckfield line will be fruitful.

I turn quickly to the Passenger Assistance app, one of the most important parts of the inclusive transport strategy; we were very excited at its launch a few months ago. It is incredibly important for people setting off on their journeys to have an integrated service on their phones to make sure that any breakdown can be communicated effectively.

Any new app is going to have a few problems, but some particular ones were brought to my attention by Mr Alan Benson. Even though the app can offer some real potential, there is no way to process or co-ordinate buying a ticket, booking a wheelchair space and getting assistance in one place. It can take over an hour to get the app to function. Could that be resolved? The biggest issue is that operators need to adopt the app so that we can ensure that all journeys are integrated and all information is in one place. The lack of accurate information is always going to be a problem when people with disabilities try to use an app to get across the country using multiple forms of transport. It would be fantastic if the Minister explained whether there is a way to resolve the app so that it can become even more useful than it is at the moment.

Finally, three years on from the publication of the inclusive transport strategy, will the Minister confirm that it is meeting all the targets to ensure that the rail network in particular can be accessible for all? There are some concerns that the Access for All funding may fall short due to budget cuts or because of covid pressure. We would not want to see that at all. I also invite the Minister to visit my constituency of Wealden; he may want to go to Frant or Wadhurst stations, with their tactile paving, or to Eridge and Crowborough stations, with their step free access. Of course, I would love it if the Minister could write to me about the electrification of the Uckfield line.

Finally, I want to leave the Minister with one thought from Leonard Cheshire’s recent report. It is asking for the inclusive transport strategy to be legislated for, so that it becomes law and we do not lose track of the time- table we are setting ourselves. It is fantastic to know from its report, “Get On Board 2020”, that investing between 1% and 3% of the total transport capital between now and 2030 in a fully step-free rail network would potentially enable 51,000 disabled people into work, and could boost our economic output by £1.3 billion. Making our railway stations accessible not only helps disabled passengers and customers, but whole communities. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Chris Heaton-Harris)]

It is a pleasure to see you in your place, Mr Speaker. Alas, my England top that we were debating on Twitter remains safely in my office for at least the next eight minutes. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Ms Ghani) on having secured this debate on the important subject of accessibility to the rail network—possibly the second most important televisual event happening this evening.

[Ms Ghani]

Surely the first.

[Chris Heaton-Harris]

My hon. Friend was, of course, responsible for accessibility in her time as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, and I thank her for her contributions and successes over that period. It is a subject that I take incredibly seriously; however, she will also be aware that I am a qualified and active football referee, just about to enter my 40th season in the middle, and an interesting and important game of association football commences shortly. I might just stick in the odd pun, because I am keen to kick off this debate, but I assure her that delivering a slightly light-hearted speech on this matter does not mean that I do not take it extremely seriously.