BRAN set the agenda but much work still to do!
Notes of Rail Access Meeting in Biggleswade 7th September 2018
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Introduction
This report is written by the Bedfordshire Rail Access Network (BRAN) which campaigns to improve access for disabled people, elderly people, people with impaired mobility and parents with young children at train stations across Bedfordshire. Our campaign has resulted in considerable media coverage in the press and radio, a visit from two Shadow Transport Ministers in January 2018 as well as the campaign being mentioned in the European Parliament. We first met with Alistair Burt MP and Govia Thameslink Railway, Network Rail, Central Bedfordshire/Town Council representatives in May and the meeting on 7th September was our second meeting with these groups.
BRAN had written a memo for the meeting, set out as the bullet points below. This subsequently broadly became the ‘agenda’ for the meeting. The answers to the bullet points are in italics, these are notes and should not be regarded as official minutes. The meeting largely concentrated on Biggleswade station although we did raise more general queries and discussed other stations including Arlesey, Sandy and Flitwick. Our conclusions follow, below the meeting notes, along with our contact details.
The Station
• Disabled spaces – reduced from 3 to 2 post re-painting. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) stated they were unaware of this but will look into the issue and respond within two weeks.
• Toilet on platform – demand for this will increase post step-free access. Toilets would ‘almost certainly’ be part of the improvement plan for the station. We stated that this must be agreed at the earliest stages of planning. They are likely to be located at ticket office level rather than on the platform due to drainage issues.
• Taxi Office progress. Potentially ready by the end of October.
• Current state of steps at station – repaint needed. GTR said action would be taken.
• Width of parking spaces in main car park – 2.2 metres – guidance states 2.4 metres minimum. We advised that although there is no legal minimum, GTR are letting down their passengers who struggle every day in this car park. GTR are taking another look at the layout of this car park to see if the space is being used in the most efficient way. They are also looking at the grass area on the West side of the car park to see if that could be used for extra spaces.
• Masterplan for the Station/Interchange – advised end of the year, what is the progress? Central BEDS Council have done some work on this and continue to liaise with Network Rail. Plans of this should be available in the near future.
• Staffing of station – what are the hours? Breach of Franchise? We had written to GTR twice previously on this issue as we believe GTR may be in breach of their contract as we believe that Biggleswade is a ‘High Usage Station’ as per their franchise agreement. They have now contacted their legal team for a response and will respond within two weeks. We will also be pursuing this through other channels.
Funding
• How much of the ‘up to’ £300 million is deferred funding from Control Period (CP) 5 (2014-2019)? Network Rail were not aware of this figure (we understand it is £50 million), but agreed the deferred funding is part of this figure – therefore net figure is £250 million. Network Rail confirmed that work deferred at Luton station will be completed in CP6 and funding for improvements will be taken from the deferred funding from CP5.
• Have CBC identified other funding pots apart from S106 – what are they? CBC identified a number of other funding pots which could be made available.
• Criteria for seeking funding – nearest accessible station (Sandy) has this been corrected? What is entered on form in terms of Community/Public Interest? The fact that Sandy has accessibility issues will be noted. The nearest fully accessible stations are likely to be identified as Hitchin and St Neots. Letters of support from groups such as the Bedfordshire Rail Access network and local disability groups will be very useful.
• What are the rankings of the stations in Bedfordshire? This is yet to be decided – the decision is made by GTR after assessing all the information from the bids.
Stakeholder Involvement
• ‘Nothing about us without us’ ‘Design with us not for us’ We advised that these statements must always be at the forefront when planning access improvements and that it seems work had already been carried out without engagement with disabled people. We were advised the work carried out to date had been ‘high level’ and consultation will take place when more detailed planning takes place.
• CBC Physical Disability Forum – high level – what powers does it have? CBC couldn’t give us an answer at the meeting, we raised concerns that it was just a ‘talking shop’.
• GTR – no room on Access Advisory Panel. GTR confirmed there was no space on the panel at the current time, but will advise us when there is a vacancy. We raised a concern there was no local representation (Arlesey, Sandy, Biggleswade) on this panel. GTR said their Accessibility Manager is familiar with all three stations.
• At the previous meeting we asked for genuine involvement. While we have a place around the table and significant progress has been made we are pushing for further involvement.
Neighbouring Stations – Sandy & Arlesey
• Sandy Drop off point, Taxi Rank, Parking on S/B side GTR are progressing with installing a ticket machine on the SB platform, there are a few power issues to deal with. No progress on anything else. This is why our Bedfordshire Rail Access Campaign will continue beyond whatever success we achieve. We again asked for details of GTR’s ‘minor works’ budget.
• Arlesey Extra ticket machine on N/B platform, footpath/road between new car park and station. No current plans for ticket machine on NB platform although if funding becomes available this will be considered. The state of the footpath/road between the new car park and bridge is not the responsibility of GTR/NR/CBC as it is private land.
Descriptions of stations on National Rail Enquiries website
In May 2018 we raised a number of inaccuracies concerning stations being described as accessible when this is not the case. Further, a lack of adequate descriptions of walking routes and the length of these routes. We were advised that this work is still ongoing.
Conclusions
There is still much work to do and a tight deadline, bids for the ‘Access for All’ funding must be submitted by Friday 16th November 2018 (GTR submit the bids). Network Rail stated that input from local disability and campaign groups can influence funding applications so we would encourage this. We are cautiously optimistic that Biggleswade and Flitwick stations may receive funding to enable them to be step-free. We were shown ‘options’ documents for both stations and initial cost estimates and will be sent an electronic copy of these, However, it remains that many stations across Bedfordshire will continue to be inaccessible to disabled people so our campaign will go on whatever success we help achieve. This campaign will both be local and national. A step change is needed in both funding and attitudes to equal access which must be seen as a right not a favour. Further, disabled people must be included from the beginning in any planned improvements. Successful bids to be announced in April 2019.
Contact Details
Email: bedsrailaccessnetwork@gmail.com
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Twitter @BedsRailAccess