The Office of Rail and Road's consumer report was released on the 7th of July 2022 and reveals that both train and station operators have made progress to improve their services for disabled passengers and have worked with the rail regulators' Accessible Travel Policy guidance.
The report also revealed further work is required by the rail industry to bring more improvements in accessibility and delay compensation
All rail operators are now able to take booking for assisted travel with just 2 hours prior notice which was a requirement brought in by the Office of Rail and Road in order to cut the period of notice from 24 hours.
Website accessibility has also been reviewed by the regulator and revealed improvements and innovation but further work is still needed especially regarding the quality of station accessibility information and also for customers that use screen-readers and other assistive technology.
The research also saw the Office of Rail and Road investigate disabled passenger experience using booked assistance and saw 5,200 passengers take part and revealed overall satisfaction with the Passenger Assist service seeing a rise to 87% for this year. Last year
Areas identified for improvement by the research include reducing the number of passengers who did not receive all of the assistance they had booked and those not being met by staff at the station as well as the time it takes to book using the telephone. The Office of Rail and Road will work with train and station operators regarding the areas of concern in order to see improvements made and to support confidence in passengers using the service.
Over the past year and since the release of the Office of Rail and Road's 2021 report, all rail operators have committed to a new delay compensation standard which will make the process of making a claim clearer and simpler for passengers. A new licence condition means that rail operators will need to provide passengers with clear information both before and during their travel regarding their entitlements to compensations when delays occur. The rail operators are also required to improve the processing of claims for compensation for train delays and to also publish data on how they are achieving the obligations.
Stephanie Tobyn, Interim Director of Strategy, Policy and Reform at ORR said: “Throughout the past year, we have held train and station operators to account for fair and transparent interactions with passengers, including on the quality of their passenger information, the services they provide for disabled passengers and how they manage delay compensation claims.
“In the year ahead, we will work with Government to support the establishment of Great British Railways and a better passenger experience, and will bring the Rail Ombudsman under ORR sponsorship”
I wonder what the rail strike has done to help disabled people!