Advice For Wheelchair Users In The Event of Missed Assistance (Staff With Wheelchair Ramp) At Railway Stations

Poster by Hong Kong PHAB Association

Yesterday (6th October 2024) I saw a post on X (formerly Twitter) where a wheelchair user was trying to board a train at Greenwich railway station but had to lift their chair up into the train, lost their glasses, and got hurt in the process. This is due to missed assistance at the station, despite booking passenger assistance with the train operating company.

Although I'm not a wheelchair user, I have volunteered to help in a small tweet thread instructing on what to do in the event of missed assistance (staff deploying a wheelchair ramp) at railway stations. I decided to share the instructions in my article because users who are not registered with X are unable to see other posts.

UK Government to End Railway Franchising – Unique Identities For London Overground Services

It’s been a while since I’ve posted something railway related on my website. This recent news regarding railways in Britain is huge because the UK Government have drafted plans to end railway franchising and to simplify ticketing, although the operations will remain privatised.

Excerpt from Department for Transport

• Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail to reform Britain’s railways and launch a new era for passengers
• biggest change in 25 years sees creation of new public body Great British Railways – a single, familiar brand with united, accountable leadership
• simpler, modern fares delivered, starting with new flexible season tickets on sale from 21 June and a new Great British Railways website for all tickets and clearer compensation
• reforms support delivery of a financially sustainable railway as country recovers from coronavirus (COVID-19), with new contracts focused on punctuality and improved efficiency, making it easier and cheaper to plan maintenance, renewal and upgrades

Network Rail’s vision for the greener network and new overhead wires for Southend Victoria Line

Here’s some railway news from Network rail because there isn’t much bus news to report on.

From Network Rail

We own, operate and develop 20,000 miles of track across Britain and that’s just the start. With such far-reaching infrastructure, we have a responsibility to limit our impact on the environment as best we can.

We’ve made significant progress in sustainability over the past year, diverting 94% of our waste from landfill.

TfL unveils the ‘maintenance train’ for the Crossrail Elizabeth Line

First of all, my apologies for the lack of articles recently which is due to the fact that I haven’t found many newsworthy articles to report on - I have however found one article from TfL reporting on the new maintenance train which will be used on the upcoming Crossrail Elizabeth Line.

From TfL press release

Rail milling train is the first of its kind in the UK rail industry.

Three new bespoke maintenance trains built in Europe will maintain London's newest railway.

TfL unveils the new Class 710 for the London Overground

TfL has unveiled the new Class 710, manufactured by Bombardier which will soon to be used on the Lea Valley Lines, Gospel Oak to Barking Line (GOBLIN), Watford DC Line and Romford to Upminster Line.

From TfL press release

The new trains will carry almost 700 people per train and feature a high capacity walk- through layout, Wi-Fi and USB charging points and a brand new seat moquette.

TfL takes over the Heathrow Connect services

TfL has taken over the Heathrow Connect services as part of launching the new Crossrail Elizabeth Line over the coming months.

From TfL press release

From Sunday 20 May TfL will take over the Heathrow Connect services between Paddington and Heathrow terminals 2/3 and 4 in another major milestone in the creation of the Elizabeth line.

New technology upgrades for Britain’s railway network

The Department of Transport have announced new signalling upgrades to Britain’s railway system to improve services and reduce disruptions.

From Department for Transport

Trains will become faster, more frequent, more punctual and safer through the introduction of new digital technology on the rail network.

Network Rail infrastructure renewals during May Bank Holidays

As we are in May, Network Rail will be renewing signals and railway infrastructure during the May Bank Holidays.

From Network Rail

When track is ‘life-expired’ and maintenance is too expensive or ineffective, we come up with solutions to refurbish or renew it. These major projects are part of our Railway Upgrade Plan, and we carry them out at weekends or over bank holidays to minimise disruption.

Heathrow Express to continue service till 2028

Heathrow Express will continue to operate the express service from Heathrow Airport to London Paddington until 2028.

From Heathrow Express

Heathrow Express rail service has been preserved to at least 2028 under a new agreement announced today.

· New agreement confirms Heathrow Express for at least a decade

· Will improve rail service connections, resilience and reliability for Heathrow passengers

· Rail services to Heathrow to rise from 18 trains per hour to at least 22 trains per hour from December 2019

· Confirms Government support for developing western and southern rail links to Heathrow

Automatic trains enabled for the Thameslink Core

Automatic Train Operation (ATO) is now starting to be used for the main core section of the Thameslink, which serves the Central London stations.

From Network Rail

Passengers have ridden the UK’s first self-drive mainline train in a major milestone for the rail industry, delivered by the Thameslink Programme.

On Monday 26 March 2018 the 09.46 service from Peterborough to Horsham, one of the new routes that will be opened up by the industry’s biggest timetable change for a generation in May, ran under automatic train operation (ATO) between St Pancras International and London Blackfriars.

Improvements to railway lines in Scotland and Wales

Network Rail is making improvements to railway lines in Scotland and Wales.

In Scotland, Network Rail announces improvements to the Aberdeen to Inverness railway line to improve journey times.

Improvement work begins for Ashford International platforms to increase international services

Network Rail has announced work to improve Ashford International to enable more international services to serve the station.

From Network Rail

Work has begun to prepare Ashford International’s high-speed platforms for new international trains, including e320 Eurostar trains, which will safeguard direct high-speed international services from Ashford.

Gospel Oak to Barking railway Line to reopen

TfL has announced the Gospel Oak to Barking line will reopen on Monday 15^th January after the completion of Network Rail’s electrification works.

From TfL press release

London Overground's Gospel Oak to Barking line reopens on Monday 15 January following the installation of new overhead electric lines by Network Rail, that will enable new longer electric trains to run from spring 2018.

New London Bridge railway station opens on time!

Network Rail has announced the completion of the redevelopment of London Bridge station.

From Network Rail

· Today marks full opening of London Bridge station to the public

· Faster journeys and more reliability for millions of passengers who use the network daily

All track work completed at London Bridge railway station and progress report on Rail Ticketing

Network Rail has announced the completion of track work around London Bridge station as part of the Thameslink Programme.

From Network Rail

Network Rail’s Thameslink Programme has reached another crucial milestone ahead of the New Year with the completion of all track work around London Bridge.

The infrastructure is now in place around the striking new station, ready to be brought into use on 2 January 2018 following ten days of major re-signalling, during which there will be major changes to services and line closures affecting London Bridge and other London stations.

Network Rail completes Waterloo upgrade and London Bus Tender awards

Network Rail held engineering works over the August bank holiday which saw the completion of the Waterloo upgrade works. This has enabled South Western Railway to have longer trains serving London Waterloo station.

From Network Rail

Network Rail has now fully reopened Waterloo station after completing one of the largest and most complex upgrades in the station’s history.

However, due to safety critical work to test the signalling taking slightly longer than planned early this morning, we are expecting disruption to the morning rush hour. Network Rail apologises to passengers for any delays to their journey and asks them to check before they travel this morning.

London Overground extension to Barking Riverside goes ahead!

TfL has reported that the proposal to extend the London Overground from Barking to Barking Riverside gets the thumbs up from the government.

From TfL press release

08 August 2017

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL) have welcomed the news that the Government has given the green light for a vital new extension of the London Overground to Barking Riverside.

Five new railway stations for England and Wales

The UK Government has announced investment of over £16 million to build five new railway stations in England and Wales.

From Department for Transport

Bolina Road in Lewisham re-opened after a major transformation by Network Rail

Network Rail aren’t just replacing the railway infrastructure as part of the Thameslink Programme, they’ve also improved parts of the street surfacing.

First and MTR wins South Western railway franchise

More bad news for Stagecoach!

Stagecoach have already lost London Bus routes 5, 15 and 115 to Go Ahead Blue Triangle and now they have lost the South West Trains franchise to First and MTR.