Feature MARGARET HICKISH
Margaret Hickish
Margaret Hickish is the Inclusive Design Director at Movement Strategies. She is a wheelchair user who was the first convenor of MACS, a member of DPTAC and has advised Network Rail on station accessibility. A Woman of the Year in 1997 Margaret has an engineering background which she uses to offer pragmatic, workable and safe solutions in Inclusive Design.
Movement Strategies offers project manager and staff training delivered by professional disabled transport users. We offer Accessibility & Inclusive Design advice on design projects, including advice on how to meet the Equality Act requirements.
RAIL: EQUAL ACCESS?
Words: Margaret Hickish Introduction
I am an independent disabled business woman who has travelled the world. While in the UK I travel around using public transport whenever I can, but as a wheelchair user I continue to be disappointed with the accessibility of passenger rail services in the UK.
In the UK, we have a long history of improving access to the built environment but access to transport has lagged behind. The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) required buildings, including rail stations, to be accessible by 2004 but transport vehicles were not required to be accessible until years later. The mismatch of dates between buildings and transport vehicles means that while a destination may be accessible getting there is often very frustrating and takes far longer than it does for non-disabled people.
44 RailCONNECT
The Equality Act has now replaced the DDA and this contains a strong emphasis on equal treatment for everyone including older, younger and disabled people. Sadly, for many disabled people who want to travel independently there are physical, process and attitudinal barriers that mean disabled people’s experience of train travel is not always positive.
My experiences as a disabled user
I would like to describe some of my experiences based on my regular journeys and invite your responses.
I often need to travel at short notice for business. For non-disabled people this can be done simply and spontaneously.
At least 24 hours ahead of my journey I must phone to book both assistance and the wheelchair user space on the train. If this space is already booked for the planned train I may have to travel at a time when my onward travel by public transport is impossible. This
Disabled passengers now receive email confirmations of bookings made and it also makes it quicker to book repeated journeys.
often means I have to take an expensive taxi to reach my final destination.
If I turned up without giving the requisite notice I would be told that no guarantee can be given to receive ramp assistance at their destination station. This is quite different from the turn up and go service offered to most rail travellers. Confidence to travel is very important for everyone but for me it is almost a military operation, with links in my journey reliant on others.
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