Marcus Jones joins push to encourage more accessible rail journeys in Nuneaton
Marcus Jones MP has joined forces with the rail industry to encourage more disabled people in Nuneaton to travel by train using the Disabled Persons Railcard, which offers a third off journeys.
Marcus attended a parliamentary event on accessibility and inclusion in rail, hosted by the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail. The event showcased the work the rail industry is doing to change and improve the network to make it more accessible. This includes enabling disabled people to make more discounted journeys with the Disabled Persons Railcard.
Last year 14,358 journeys starting from Nuneaton were made using the Railcard, up from 11,618 in 2015 – and increase of more than 23%.
The Disabled Persons Railcard offers a third off adult rail fares at any time on the National Rail network for people with a disability, plus a companion. On average, passengers with the Disabled Persons Railcard save £108 a year, even after the £20 cost of the card is factored in.
The rise in accessible journeys reflects the work rail companies are doing to make services more accessible. The industry recently launched a new interactive ‘Access Map’ to make it easier for passengers to find out at a glance how accessible their local station is. The industry is also working together to improve passenger assistance bookings, with new technology currently being rolled out for staff and a customer app launching next summer to make bookings easier.
Since 2006, the rail industry has delivered £500million of improvements at stations including making them more accessible, with £300 million of additional funding from government to make 73 more stations accessible by 2024.
Marcus said:
“Everyone in Nuneaton should have the opportunity to travel by train and this event shows the rail industry is working hard to improve accessibility across the country and make the railway easier for everyone to use. I'm pleased to work with the rail companies to raise awareness of the discounts offered by the Disabled Persons Railcard and hope more people will benefit from big savings that can be made.”
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The Disabled Persons Railcard offers 1/3 off adult rail fares for travel on the National Rail network in Great Britain for people with a disability that makes travelling by train difficult. If travelling with another adult, they will also get 1/3 off their rail fare. There are no time restrictions on the Disabled Persons Railcard, so you can use it to get a discount on tickets at any time of the day. For more information on the Disabled Persons Railcard, please visit https://www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/
Access Map: The rail industry recently launched a new interactive accessibility map to make it easier for passengers to find out about accessibility at their station. With information about every station across Britain, the map clearly displays: whether stations have step free or partial step-free access; what facilities are available at a station, including accessible toilets and changing places; and, where alternative accessible stations are for on-the-go planning.
Passenger Assist App: A new Passenger Assist App is also being trialled to speed up booking assistance. From November, people will be able to set up user profiles and spend far less time on the phone booking assistance. Beginning next year, rail staff will start using the upgraded systems and by summer 2020, the customer app will go live, helping passengers have more control over their journey.
