Amtrak ADA settlement includes 3 state stations
Amtrak began accepting claims for monetary compensation Friday from people with mobility disabilities who traveled or wanted to travel to or from 78 train stations — three in Colorado — and were met with accessibility issues, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The three Colorado Amtrak stations affected are in Fort Morgan, Glenwood Springs and Granby, the release said.
Amtrak and the National Railroad Passenger Corp. settled a lawsuit with the Department of Justice in December to resolve the department’s disability discrimination findings in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the release said. Under the agreement, Amtrak will fix the 78 stations and pay $2.25 million to victims hurt by the inaccessibility.
Amtrak will design at least 135 stations to be accessible in the next 10 years, complete construction at 90 of those stations and have at least 45 more under construction, the release read.
Amtrak also will train workers on ADA requirements and implement processes for handling ADA complaints. Amtrak also established an Office of the Vice President of Stations, Properties & Accessibility to coordinate its compliance with the ADA as part of the settlement.
To be eligible for compensation, a person must:
• Have a mobility disability.
• Be harmed physically or emotionally because of accessibility issues at one of the listed stations between July 27, 2013, and Dec. 2, 2020, including inaccessible parking, steep slopes or steps to the station, lack of directional signs, toilets lacking accessible entrances, high ticket counters.
• Have lived at, visited or wanted to visit a place closer to one or more of the stations than an accessible, alternative Amtrak station.
• Submit a claim form and declaration by mail, fax, email or online to the claims administrator no later than May 29.
Questions about making claims can be answered online at AmtrakDisabilitySettlement.com, via email at info@AmtrakDisabilitySettlement.com, via telephone at 1-888-334-6165 or TTY telephone at 1-866-4116976.