Marcus Clements Head of Consumer Policy Telephone 020 7282 3830 E-mail [email protected] 18 July 2019 Patrick Green Network Experience Manager Transport for London [By email] Dear Patrick, Approval of London Underground Limited (trading as London Underground) Disabled People’s Protection Policy (Condition 5 of the GB Passenger Statement of National Regulatory Provisions). Thank you for submitting London Underground’s Disabled People’s Protection Policy (DPPP) for approval. A copy of the approved DPPP is attached to this letter, and will be published on our website along with a copy of this letter. London Underground is required to have a DPPP at certain stations where underground trains run on the Network Rail network, and where it operates stations used by national passenger train operators. We have reviewed London Underground’s DPPP against the 2009 Guidance “How to write your Disabled People’s Protection Policy: A guide for Train and Station Operators” (the guidance). We also sought views on the draft from London TravelWatch and the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee. I can confirm that London Underground’s DPPP meets the requirements of Condition 5 of its GB Passenger Statement of National Regulatory Provisions, with the exceptions outlined overleaf. We have taken the decision to approve the DPPP even though it does not meet in full all of the requirements of the guidance. We have done so for the benefit of passengers, in order that they understand what assistance is available and can readily access your current published DPPP documents. Approval has also been given on the understanding that, following publication of our revised guidance, London Underground’s DPPP must be fully compliant with the full range of requirements by the end of the year including the following. Page 1 of 3 1441857 Commitment to participate in the provision of booked assistance via Passenger Assist. Commitment to participate in the provision of help with luggage for passengers that have booked assistance via Passenger Assist. Both of these services are currently not available at London Underground stations, and will require a change in working practices. For this reason, an internal consultation (including with union representatives) and approvals process is essential, and is currently in the process of being carried out. However, by early 2020 we understand staff will be in a position to use the Passenger Assist System and carry out luggage assistance. You have confirmed you will continue to carry out assistance on a Turn Up and Go basis for the time being, and that your revised policy will include full participation in the Passenger Assist system. In approving the DPPP, we welcome the following, which we believe are likely to be positive for passengers: The number of forums and stakeholder engagement which take place throughout the year and form a key part of the decision making process for Transport for London (TfL). These include TfL’s Independent Disability Advisory Group and the Valuing People forum, and a number of sub-regional mobility forums established to enhance discussion between TfL, the London Boroughs and groups for older and disabled people. The extensive disability awareness training which is delivered to all operational staff and operational managers, and the introduction of disability equality training for senior managers. Delivery is a combination of classroom based, online modules and on the job training, and is covered by regular refreshers in order to maintain staff knowledge. As you may be aware, we are currently finalising revisions to the guidance published for train and station operators on how to write their DPPP. We will work with all operators once the new guidance is published in order to ensure their DPPP is revised accordingly, in order to comply with the updated guidance requirements. We will confirm the deadline for submission of your revised policy at the time of publication of the updated guidance. Page 2 of 3 1441857 Yours sincerely, Marcus Clements Page 3 of 3 1441857 London Underground Making rail accessible: guide to policies and practices 1 Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................... 3 2. Management arrangements and responsibility ................................... 7 3. Monitoring and evaluation .................................................................. 8 4. Access improvements ........................................................................ 9 5. Working with others .......................................................................... 10 6. Staff training ..................................................................................... 11 7. Emergency procedures .................................................................... 12 8. Communications strategy ................................................................. 13 9. Signage ............................................................................................ 14 10. Car parking ....................................................................................... 15 2 1. Introduction This document sets out the policies and practices that London Underground operates in relation to older and disabled customers using the National Rail services at the following stations, which we operate on behalf of the train operating companies (TOCs): Station Train Operating Company Amersham Chiltern Blackhorse Road London Overground Chalfont & Latimer Chiltern Chorleywood Chiltern Farringdon Govia Thameslink Railway Greenford First Great Western Gunnersbury London Overground Harlesden London Overground Harrow & Wealdstone London Overground, London North Western & GTR Southern Harrow on the Hill Chiltern Highbury & Islington London Overground and Great Northern Kensal Green London Overground Kenton London Overground Kentish Town Govia Thameslink Railway Kew Gardens London Overground Moorgate Great Northern North Wembley London Overground Old Street Great Northern Queen’s Park London Overground Rickmansworth Chiltern Seven Sisters London Overground South Kenton London Overground South Ruislip Chiltern Stonebridge Park London Overground Stratford TfL Rail, Abellio Greater Anglia & London Overground Walthamstow Central London Overground Wembley Central London Overground, London Midland & GTR Southern West Brompton London Overground & GTR Southern West Ham c2c Rail West Ruislip Chiltern This document relates only to the TOCs and stations listed above. 3 For information about the policies and practices we have in place relating to customers using London Underground (LU) services, please see www.tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility . 4 Operator strategy London Underground takes its obligations to improve accessibility seriously. We recognise that our customers may have different requirements when they travel with us and we are committed to making their journey as easy as possible. We have made considerable improvements over the past couple of decades to decrease and remove the communicational and attitudinal barriers that disabled customers face, and to improve physical access to the system. These improvements have included (see below for more information): • Better staff training • More accessible stations and trains • More extensive and meaningful engagement with disabled customers Transport for London publishes a number of documents which summarise the action being taken to deliver high quality, accessible transport on the TfL network, including our Single Equality Scheme and our Action on Equality publication. These can be accessed at: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/equality-and- inclusion-publications In addition, the TfL Business Plan sets out all expenditure and priorities over the life of the plan. This can be viewed at: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/business-plan This Business Plan sets out TfL’s plans for the five years from 2019/20 to 2023/24. London Underground recognises the ‘social model of disability’, which says that: • Disability is a social phenomenon • It is created by society’s response to a person’s impairments or learning difficulties • Discrimination against disabled people is just as oppressive as discrimination on the grounds of age, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation Our aim is to make it easier for all of our customers to access and use the network. Our document “Making rail accessible: helping older and 5 disabled passengers” contains further information on how we plan to do this. 6 2. Management arrangements and responsibility London Underground is committed to making our customers journeys as simple as possible and our Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) contains information on how we plan to do this. The Chief Customer Officer London Underground is responsible for our ATP which is comprised of this policy document and a separate customer information leaflet. These are titled as follows: • Making rail accessible: guide to policies and practices (this policy document) • Making rail accessible: helping older and disabled customers Our Chief Customer Officer London Underground, through the Customer Experience Lead, ensures that both these documents are reviewed every 12 months. The Chief Customer Officer London Underground can be contacted at: Palestra 197 Blackfriars Road 7th Floor (Green Zone) London, SE1 8NJ The day to day responsibility for the Accessible Travel Policy is held by the Customer Experience Lead, who is responsible for ensuring