73 railway stations set to receive a £300 million funding boost to become more accessible
Announced on the 4th of April 2019 by the Department for Transport and Nusrat Ghani MP, 73 stations throughout the UK are to benefit from a £300 million boost from the UK Government to help make them more accessible to elderly and disabled people.
The chosen stations will receive an accessible route into the station, as well as to and between every platform, to help passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility travel easily, confidently and independently.
The Department for Transport’s Access for All programme is fundamental to help meet travellers’ accessibility requirements; the programme has already delivered an accessible, step-free route at more than 200 stations, as well as smaller scale accessibility improvements at a further 1,500 others.
Published in July 2018, the Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy included a commitment to extend the Access for All programme, announcing an additional £300 million of funding from the public purse.
The 73 stations chosen for an accessibility upgrade were selected following nominations from the rail industry, which engaged with local authorities and other stakeholders. The Government assessed the stations against annual footfall, weighted by the incidence of disability in the area, and also took account of local factors such as nearby hospitals and the availability of third-party funding.
In addition, a number of stations were chosen to ensure a fair geographical spread across the country.
All work at the stations is due to be completed by the end of March 2024.
All of the work carried out by Access for All comes in addition to access improvements that the industry is required to deliver as part of other projects or renewals of station infrastructure.