We welcome the focus in the Government’s rail reform consultation paper on streamlining, consolidating and strengthening powers for protecting passenger interests, resolving complaints and monitoring rights and standards. However, the focus on accessibility in the consultation document appears relatively weak in comparison to the severity of the problem. It will be necessary for the passenger watchdog to have substantial expertise in and resources dedicated to accessibility and inclusion if i...

We welcome the focus in the Government’s rail reform consultation paper on streamlining, consolidating and strengthening powers for protecting passenger interests, resolving complaints and monitoring rights and standards. However, the focus on accessibility in the consultation document appears relatively weak in comparison to the severity of the problem. It will be necessary for the passenger watchdog to have substantial expertise in and resources dedicated to accessibility and inclusion if it is to make a significant difference to the everyday experience of disabled travellers. We draw attention to our recommendation later in this report tha Type: conclusion | Number: 18 | Response status: accepted Government response: The forthcoming Railways Bill will also create a new passenger watchdog. In the public consultation we proposed it would have an explicit duty on accessibility by monitoring how services are delivered to disabled passengers and advocating improvements where issues ari