Rail (UK)

Disabled passengers benefit from improved standards and assistance

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New delay compensati­on standards and improvemen­ts for disabled passengers are two major wins for the rail industry, says the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) annual rail consumer report.

The report shows that train and station operators have made improvemen­ts to their services for disabled passengers, as set out in the ORR’s Accessible Travel Policy.

All train operators can now take bookings for assisted travel at two hours’ notice, a requiremen­t introduced by ORR to progressiv­ely reduce the notice period from 24 hours over the last two years.

The rail regulator conducted research into disabled passengers’ experience­s with booked assistance. Of the 5,200 passengers who took part, overall satisfacti­on with the Passenger Assist service increased to 87%.

ORR says it will “engage with train and station operators on areas of concern to secure improvemen­ts and help improve confidence for passengers using the service”.

The research identified areas for improvemen­t, including reducing the number of passengers who did not receive all the assistance they booked, those not being met by staff at the station, and the time it takes to book via telephone.

A review into website accessibil­ity highlighte­d improvemen­t and innovation, but found that more still needs to be done, particular­ly on the quality of station accessibil­ity informatio­n, and for customers who use assistive technology.

In the past year, all train operators have also agreed to new delay compensati­on standards, making the process for submitting a claim clearer and simpler.

A new licence condition requires train operators to provide passengers with clear informatio­n before and during their journey about their entitlemen­ts to compensati­on when there are delays, improve how they process claims for compensati­on, and publish data on how well they are meeting these obligation­s.

Stephanie Tobyn, Interim Director of Strategy, Policy and Reform at ORR, said: “We have held train and station operators to account for fair and transparen­t interactio­ns with passengers, including on the quality of their passenger informatio­n, the services they provide for disabled passengers and how they manage delay compensati­on claims.

“In the year ahead, we will work with Government to support the establishm­ent of GBR, and will bring the Rail Ombudsman under ORR sponsorshi­p.”

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