Making Rail Accessible helping older and Proud to be ... disabled passengers Version 2 – June 2017 Contents Introduction Introduction Page 3 Northern is operated by Arriva. We will improve the accessibility of our services to all Our Franchise commitments Page 3 passengers, particularly older and disabled Policy summary Page 5 passengers or those who simply need some extra assistance. Assistance for passengers Page 6 Alternative accessible transport Page 9 We are committed to: Passenger information Page 10 • helping people to use the railways Tickets and fares Page 11 confidently, taking into account the wide range of different needs At the station Page 12 • continuously improving the quality and Station entrances Page 13 awareness of the assistance available. Aural and visual information Page 13 Our Franchise commitments Information points and displays Page 14 We commit to continuously improving the customer offer through a substantial investment Ticket machines Page 14 programme to enhance accessibility to our Ticket gates Page 14 stations and trains. Luggage Page 14 We will invest in new and refurbished trains, Ramps Page 15 which will see the introduction of 281 new, more On the train Page 15 accessible carriages and the full refurbishment of the remaining fleet. By January 2020, all our Information on train types Page 18 trains will meet modern accessibility standards. and facilities By 2019 all passengers will be able to access free on-board WiFi. Train accessibility information Page 26 Making connections Page 26 During 2017 we will provide ‘Baby on board’ badges, and a Priority Seat Card scheme to Disruption to facilities and services Page 26 make it easier for passengers to use Priority Contact us Page 28 Seating areas. Alternative formats Page 28 We will invest in station improvements, customer Station accessibility information Page 28 service excellence and simpler ticketing options, giving greater flexibility and promoting ease of travel. As part of our station upgrade plans we commit to the following by April 2020: • staffing 45 stations across the network which are currently unstaffed • introducing new ticket buying facilities at 243 stations that will make it simpler to buy tickets Making Rail Accessible - Helping older and disabled passengers Page 63 • providing customer information screens, • a range of discounts to reduce the cost public address and help points (with of the journey for disabled people and a induction loops) at all but the smallest companion stations • station accessibility improvements, e.g. • refurbishing seating and waiting areas at removing steps 355 locations • upgrading security through new CCTV and Our aim is to deliver transformational change video help points for our passengers and for Northern to leave a • creating 10 inclusive hubs at stations which lasting legacy for the north of England. will provide high standards of accessibility for all passengers. At these hubs we will Policy summary provide better signage and information This document provides passengers with details (including Braille signs), provide obstruction of services and facilities, and the standards of free walking routes, accessible toilets, service that they can reasonably expect, as well hand rails, automatic doors and other as what happens if services are disrupted. enhancements. • installing 18 “Harrington humps” to reduce We’re fully committed to making our services as the stepping distances from platforms to accessible and easy to use as possible, so we’ve trains and improve ease of using wheelchair produced this leaflet to explain what we do to ramps by April 2020 assist older and disabled passengers who travel with us. It also gives details of what we’re doing We will invest £250,000 per year on minor to make our network more accessible and how improvement works to improve accessibility of we’re improving services. You can get a copy of stations, e.g. by providing additional signage, this leaflet from our Customer Experience Centre handrails, tactile paving, seating, marking Blue or from our website at northernrailway.co.uk. Badge parking bays and removing steps. We will work with Network Rail to support the If you already travel with us, we hope you delivery of Access for All schemes at stations to find this leaflet useful and if you haven’t deliver step free access. travelled with us before, we hope it gives you the confidence to use our services. It will We will update the step free map and the be reviewed regularly and updated at least facilities matrix annually. We will ensure that annually to include details of improvements station information on the National Rail stations we’ve made and future commitments. pages (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_ destinations/default.aspx) is kept up to date. We welcome your feedback on the service we Our commitment to helping all passengers and provide and any suggestions you may have for particularly older and disabled passengers to improvements. If you’d like to get in touch our travel more easily includes offering the following contact details are shown on the rear cover. services to our passengers: • assistance at our stations and on our trains or when making connections • alternative accessible transport when our stations or trains are inaccessible • clear, consistent and up-to-date customer information Making Rail Accessible - Helping older and disabled passengers PagePage 58 alternative means or via alternative transport Assistance for passengers if employees are not available to assist. In special circumstances where there is no viable We participate in a system called Passenger alternative we may consider sending a member Assist. This is an industry-wide system used to of staff to assist you where it is both reasonable book assistance for passengers during their and practical to do so. journey and to reserve seats and wheelchair spaces on trains where available. We can book assistance for your whole rail journey, even where part of the journey is with Passenger Assist allows you to: other train operators or where our services call at stations not managed by us. • request assistance from a member of staff in advance for getting on or off the train, or We recommend that you give us 24 hours notice for climbing stairs for us to arrange assistance. However, we • request help entering or leaving the station understand that this is not always possible. We from the taxi rank (where we have staff will always provide assistance where reasonably available) practicable. Please contact station or on-train • request a portable ramp for getting on or off staff, use a Help Point or contact our Customer the train Experience Centre (contact details provided on • request a member of staff to provide Welcome Posters at stations and below) and let guidance to a blind or visually-impaired us know how we can assist. passenger • request a wheelchair to assist with If you’d like to book assistance on 25 December transferring from the platform to the train for travel on 26 December, please contact our (available at larger stations only) Customer Experience Centre. We will, of course, • book seat reservations, including the try to provide assistance if you haven’t managed booking of dedicated wheelchair spaces to book. • make onward travel reservations on services operated by other train companies To book assistance please see the ‘Contact us’ where reservations are available section below. • request assistance to and from connecting services We have a partnership with disabled people’s • purchase travel tickets charity ‘Enhance the UK’ who are providing • check the accessibility and facilities on both Disability awareness training sessions to all our our rolling stock and at our stations frontline employees. We will provide assistance, when booked Many of our stations are staffed (shown in the through Passenger Assist, at any station during station facilities table) and all our trains have the hours that trains are scheduled to serve that conductors. They are there to help so please station. Details of these times will be included don’t hesitate to ask. We will ensure they are on the National Rail Enquiries station pages. sufficiently resourced to meet the booked travel Out of hours assistance may be provided by assistance requirements. Making Rail Accessible - Helping older and disabled passengers PagePage 710 When assistance has been booked in advance, available at all staffed stations. All you have we will ensure passengers are assisted off to do is write out a card with your question a train at its final destination as quickly as or request and present it to staff, who will possible and within a maximum of five minutes be happy to help. Alternatively download wherever reasonably practicable. the BlueAssist app and find out more at: blueassistuk.org.uk/Home/ In order to monitor the quality of service we provide, we carry out mystery shopping using We also recognise other similar regional a disabled passenger. We also carry out post- schemes including the Orange Wallet scheme in travel surveys of passengers who have booked Wales and the Bridges Card in the North East. assistance. Results are fed back to senior management to help focus our improvement The National Rail Enquiries Stations plans. pagesnationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/ disabled_passengers.aspx provide more If you are disabled and have not booked in information about the accessibility of facilities advance we will make every effort to provide and services. Each station page has a Stations assistance when you arrive at the station where Made Easy link with photographs and station reasonably practicable. Platform-train ramps are diagrams. Where there is a meeting point at the available at all staffed stations, whether or not station it will be shown on the stations page, or you have booked assistance. the most suitable place to meet will be defined. Our Head of Customer Experience is responsible The stations pages will be updated within for consulting with disabled passengers on 24 hours whenever there is a change to priorities for improvements, promoting disability accessibility as follows: awareness and co-ordinating investment in accessibility schemes.