New research has claimed that six train operators are “in breach of legal requirements” following investigations into staffing policies.

The Association of British Commuters (ABC) conducted the research and claims that six train operators in c2c, Chiltern, Greater Anglia, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Great Western Railway (GWR), and Southeastern, are discriminating against disabled passengers through their policies.

The report suggests operators deny “turn up and go” travel across 11 per cent of Britain’s stations for disabled passengers.

Major South East London stations are included in this and have all been reported as making travelling harder for disabled travellers and named ‘no go areas’ for them.

South East London stations named 'no go areas' for disabled passengers

Stations in Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, and Lewisham all have high rates for the issues claim ABC.

ABC reports that the faults come due to staffing issues and driver-only operating trains (DOO), meaning that train drivers are the only member of staff on the train at any time.

The report found that DOO has created “‘no go areas’ for accessible rail travel at a total of 292 stations across Greater London and the south-east of England, representing over 11% of Britain’s stations.”

The four South East London stations previously mentioned are at the top of the list.

Currently, disabled passengers are offered alternative options to the ‘turn up and go’ policy.

This sees staff sent from other stations, dedicated ‘mobile staff’, taxis to the destination or to the nearest staffed station, and alternative journey plans, resulting in changes to arrival and departure times and even routes.

The research comes after the ABC submitted research forms to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), demanding “they intervene in all six operators for breaches of equality law.”

They found that after years of “warnings from accessibility experts, train operators and the rail regulator have failed to establish any consistent or lawful mitigations for these discriminatory staffing policies.”

There are hopes that the EHRC will need to investigate and “apply its full legal weight to breaches of equality law by train operators” allowing disabled passengers to travel at ease.

Train Companies Respond to ABC claims 

Thameslink

One of the Train Companies discussed in the report by ABC, Govia Thameslink Railway said: "We're absolutely committed to improving accessibility across our network. These figures just don't stack up.

"We provide turn-up-and-go assistance at all our stations, whether that is via staff onboard our trains or at our stations, through mobile assistance teams or alternative transport to the nearest staffed accessible station.

"Our Accessible Travel Policy is signed off by the Office of Rail and Road and we have input from our Access Advisory Panel of disabled passengers who regularly use our services." 

They also added that at stations where they may be no staff customers can contact them from the station help points or by freephone and textphone, and we will arrange alternative accessible transport. 

Southeastern

In regards to the research, a spokesperson for Southeastern said:

“Assistance will be provided at all stations for customers with disabilities who ‘turn up and go’, as well as for customers who book assistance in advance. If no one is immediately available our expanded and highly trained mobile assistance team will be despatched at the earliest opportunity.

“The assistance we provide is well above the rail industry average, at 85% of pre-Covid levels, but we’ll continue to improve the service we offer, working closely with our Accessibility Panel, taking on board on-going feedback which will be reflected in our Accessible Travel Policy.”

Great Western Railway

Responding to the research carried out by ABC, Great Western Railway said: "ABC has reached some headline-grabbing but rather spurious conclusions based not on GWR’s policies but on a leaked document from another train operator.

"All of our stations and train services are fully compliant with the ORR’s guidance on Accessible Travel. 

"Where stations are unstaffed and served by driver-only trains, whether wholly or for just a few hours a day, they are all covered by our permanent mobile assistance team, and assistance requests can be made via the Passenger Assist app; by telephone; online, or at station help points, 24 hours a day."

Greater Anglia 

Greater Anglia also responded to the report as a spokesperson said: "Assistance is available at all stations on our network. We have teams who are either based at stations, on trains or who are mobile who will provide passengers with assistance once they know they need it.

"If we are unable to provide any of these, then we will discuss with an alternative journey plan with passengers – this could be a different train route, the nearest accessible station or alternative accessible transport. This will be agreed with passengers and provided at no additional cost (but passengers will need a valid rail ticket).

"If passengers are travelling from an unstaffed station and haven’t booked assistance, we ask that they use the Help Point or press the help button on a Ticket Vending Machine which will connect them to an agent at our call centre in Norwich.

"We will do everything we can to help passengers with their onward journey, but it will take longer for assistance to be organised and arrive at an unstaffed station if this is not pre-booked."

c2c

Also mentioned in the report, c2c responded: "It is incorrect to say c2c does not provide turn up and go travel at any unstaffed stations. TUAG is available at all of c2c stations although at some this is via our mobile assistance teams. We have completed in excess of 2,640 TUAG assists so far this year."

"We state within our Accessible Travel Policy and Passenger Charter that we offer turn-up and go at all c2c stations and that if a station is unstaffed customers should use a help point or phone to contact our control centre or contact centre to arrange for staff to attend the station as soon as possible. We also specify in the ATP that we offer alternative travel should we be unable to respond."

"We work closely with our accessibility panel and involve them in all aspects of what we do including operational and policy decisions that may impact the needs of customers and initiatives to improve the customer experience."

Chiltern Railway

"We work hard to ensure the highest standards when helping all disabled customers at our stations. For un-booked assistance at unstaffed stations served by trains operating without a train manager, Chiltern Railways will either deploy staff from a hub station to assist or provide alternative transport. Customers will be given the option and time confirmed when assistance is requested. The staff help available at stations differs from that in the report, as it often refers to the times our ticket offices are in operation as opposed to reflecting the times there are actually staff at a station.

Ensuring that rail travel is accessible for all is of paramount importance to us as a business. We acknowledge that there are some stations that are unstaffed, and we make reasonable adjustments in line with our legal obligations and our Accessible Travel Policy, which has been accepted by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). We are committed to delivering and continuously improving this policy.”