Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is accelerating progress to make the UK a world leader for accessible travel after a new Government campaign is launched to improve journeys for disabled passengers on trains.
The Department for Transport has launched the ‘it's everyone's journey' advertising campaign.
The campaign is being supported by more than 100 partners, including First Group, WHSmith Travel and the Alzheimer's Society.
One in four disabled people has said that the attitude of other passengers has prevented them from using public transport.
The campaign aims to encourage everyone to reflect on how behaviours can impact others.
The Government will also be announcing 124 stations across Great Britain which will benefit from a share of a £20million government investment for accessibility improvements.
Alongside this, the Department is launching its Inclusive Transport Leaders scheme, an accreditation scheme which will encourage, celebrate and promote best practice in inclusive transport.
Operators, such as bus and train companies, are being encouraged to sign up to the Inclusive Transport Leaders Scheme, to be recognised for the positive actions they take.
They can work towards one of three accreditation levels ‘Committed', ‘Operator' or ‘Leader' by meeting criteria and publicly declaring the steps they have taken to improve the experience.
What did the officials say?
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:
“I want our transport system to be the best in the world for disabled people, but we still have a long way to go.
“Our ‘it's everyone's journey' campaign highlights that we can all play a part in making transport more accessible for disabled people. Because I believe we should all be making a determined effort to make public transport accessible to everyone, and I am committed to accelerating the pace of change.
“We are launching a new scheme to recognise those transport operators which are getting it right and will work quickly to implement recommendations from the upcoming Keith Williams Review to improve rail accessibility.”
John Birtwistle, Head of Policy at FirstGroup, said:
“FirstGroup is particularly proud to be a partner in the launch of “it's everyone's journey”. For many years we have sought to improve our services to reflect the needs of travellers with disabilities and to overcome barriers to use of public transport.
“We will continue to encourage every one of our customers to be considerate to both their fellow travellers, and to our drivers who do a great job under difficult conditions, and we welcome this wide reaching national campaign.”
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