GTR rejects commuter group’s claims on passenger accessibility compliance

Govia Thameslink Railway has rejected claims by the Association of British Commuters (ABC) that it is in breach of equality law due to insufficient staffing.

The volunteer organisation, which campaigns “for justice and equality in public transport”, says a GTR document it has obtained proves that its use of driver-only operated (DOO) trains to unstaffed stations discriminates against disabled people, by preventing non-booked ‘turn up and go’ travel on an equal basis with others.

Quoting from the 20-page Accessibility Marketing Plan, ABC claims that GTR admits that it has been in breach of its legal requirements since 2010 at 41 nonstaffed or partially staffed stations.

In a statement, GTR told RAIL: “This extract taken from an internal working document unfortunately does not represent our position correctly. We do comply with our reasonable adjustment duty under the Equality Act.

“For example, we offer passengers alternative transport to their nearest accessible station, and we have launched mobile assistance teams. We remain firmly committed to making the railway more accessible to all.”

GTR added that it has “always provided free alternative travel (such as an accessible taxi) to take passengers to their nearest accessible station, to ensure anyone can travel on our services”.

Additionally, it now has mobile assistance teams based at ‘hub’ stations - nearby stations within a 20-minute radius. A passenger can request the service via the station help point or by using a freephone number or text number, and the team will be with them within 20 minutes.

GTR said this already serves 27 stations across its network, and 17 more out of the 41 planned are in the “current rollout phase”.

The operator added that it “hopes to expand this further in time, too, as at the moment we are in the trial phase, gathering feedback and developing the service further”.