High Speed 2 Line: Disability

(asked on 28th June 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the current specification given to HS2 for the building of Old Oak Common Station includes a requirement that disabled passengers must be able to embark and disembark from all (1) HS2, (2) Great Western Railway, and (3) Elizabeth Line trains, without needing to use manual boarding ramps.


Answered by
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 11th July 2023

The High Speed platforms at Old Oak Common Station have been designed to enable level boarding. Passengers using the conventional rail platforms at the station will join services using several different types of rolling stock and the railway will also be used by important freight services. To ensure the railway can be used by all of these train services and provide maximum availability and resilience for passengers, there needs to be consistent platform heights across the conventional station platforms, which means level boarding will not be available on Great Western Railway and Elizabeth line services. The station is fully compliant with Network Rail standards.

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