Independent report

DPTAC response: periodic review 23

Published 14 February 2022

The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) is the statutory advisor to the Secretary of State for Transport on matters relating to disability and transport.

In our wider established role, we provide advice to government more widely, the Department for Transport (DfT) and associated governmental agencies such as the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

We are responding to ORR’s open letter of 17 June 2021, which set out its approach to the completion of periodic review 23 (PR23) as a precursor to control period 7 (CP7). ORR invited views from stakeholders on its proposed approach, in particular any areas that stakeholders felt ORR should specifically consider within its PR23 framework.

This statement sets out DPTAC’s comments on ORR’s proposed approach and framework.

DPTAC’s comments

1. As background, it is worth stating that the rail network remains inaccessible for many disabled people, as evidenced by the lower propensity to make rail journeys amongst disabled people compared to non-disabled people.

Research has identified many barriers to rail travel that exist for disabled people but of particular relevance to PR23 is the continued existence of widespread physical barriers at stations.

2. In the light of (1) above, we were very surprised that ORR’s open letter did not contain a single specific reference to accessibility, despite ORR’s important regulatory role in this area, the importance placed on improving accessibility in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail (the Plan) published as a white paper in May 2021 (commitment 44 in particular) and given the crucial importance of providing targeted funding to address the inaccessibility of much of the station estate.

Commitment 44 in the Plan set out important new initiatives to improve the accessibility of the rail network including the introduction of a new Accessibility Duty upon the proposed new body Great British Railways (GBR) and train operators, the development and publication of a new Rail Accessibility Strategy and the establishment of a single, consolidated fund for physical improvements to the accessibility of the station estate.

The Plan also sets out the proposed new regulatory role for the ORR, which will be focused on ensuring that GBR delivers on its commitments to government, meets the needs of passengers, provides value to taxpayers, and meets its regulatory and legal obligations.

In this context, we note that CP7 will cover the period 2024 to 2029 by which time GBR should have been created and the other accessibility-related initiatives in the Plan either implemented or in the course of being implemented.

3. Given (2) above, we would strongly advocate that the accessibility of the rail network should be explicitly considered with the PR23 framework, and within the context of the rail sector’s existing legal and regulatory duties, as well as the important new strategic context provided by the Plan.

4. Such explicit consideration should take into account the funding and other requirements needed for Network Rail and GBR to meet their regulatory and legal requirements with regard to accessibility, as well as the delivery of wider improvements to the accessibility of the rail network in line with government policy, and the broader context of the 2010 Equality Act.

Specifically, the need for widespread physical improvements to the station estate should be considered with a view to ensuring that a much larger number of stations become compliant with the Design Standards for Accessible Railway Stations: Code of Practice. This is particularly important in the context of the focus on operations, maintenance and renewals (OMR) funding in CP7 as station maintenance and renewals need to comply with the code of practice.

The significant accessibility issues associated with the platform-train interface also need to be considered, as does the provision of adequate staffing at stations, without which the ability of the operational railway to support travel by disabled people and provide assistance is severely compromised, and many improvements to physical accessibility rendered of reduced or limited benefit.

5. As PR23 will be completed roughly in parallel with the development of the proposed Rail Accessibility Strategy (the Strategy), we would advocate the closest possible engagement between ORR and the various bodies developing the Strategy, most importantly DfT and Network Rail (the latter in its own right but also as the industry’s Interim Guiding Mind (IGM) leading-up to the formation of GBR, as set out in the Plan).

For the proposed new Strategy to be successful, it is crucial that it is fully integrated with the outputs and deliverables expected from Network Rail/GBR within CP7 and the associated funding for CP7.

6. In this context, we should also highlight the importance of the accessibility audit included wIthin the Plan, which will for the first time provide comprehensive information on the accessibility of the station estate, and form the basis for calculating the quantum of investment required to make the station estate accessible and the prioritised plan for achieving such accessibility.

PR23 should take full consideration of the information emanating from the accessibility audit, although we have a strong concern that because the timescales for the audit and PR23 are not aligned, there is a risk that decisions on funding for PR23 may be taken prior to completion of the audit. A similar risk applies to the planned review and reissue of Design Standards for Accessible Railway Stations: Code of Practice, which will again take place in parallel with CP23.

7. We believe that PR23 also needs to consider ORR’s regulatory role in improving the accessibility of the rail network. ORR already has an important role in this area as a result of the Passenger Licence requirement upon train operators to develop and implement an Accessible Travel Policy, as well as ORR’s enforcement duties with regard to the:

• Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non-Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2010 (RVAR 2010)
• Persons of Reduced Mobility (PRM) National Technical Specification Notice (NTSN)
• Design Standards for Accessible Railway Stations: Code of Practice

In response to the consultation on the Post-Implementation Review of the Rail Interoperability Regulations, in May 2021, DPTAC strongly advocated that the various regulatory codes and duties related to the accessibility of the rail network should be consolidated into a single regulatory code and that post the formation of GBR, ORR should become the single enforcement for ensuring compliance with the new code in its entirety.

We believe that such consolidation would provide greater clarity and transparency to accessibility-related regulation, allowing more effective monitoring and enforcement and making it easier for disabled people and their representative organisations to hold GBR and train companies to account.

Conclusions

PR23 has a key role in driving forward improvements to the accessibility of the rail network and DPTAC would be very willing to engage further with the ORR as PR23 progresses.

We will certainly respond to formal consultations, but would be happy to engage informally as well.

We are happy for this response to be made public without redaction.

David Mapp (on behalf of DPTAC)

8 September 2021