Transport Accessibility for Disabled People

Steff Aquarone Excerpts

Thursday 26th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steff Aquarone (North Norfolk) (LD)]

I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this important debate, which is linked, of course, to the Transport Committee’s report on disabled people’s access to public transport.

I am a passionate advocate for public transport. Over my years of campaigning, I have pushed for more buses and trains, in order to make people’s lives easier and more affordable; and I have pushed to get more people riding them, so that we can take action on climate change and boost our local economy. Increasing ridership, though, has to mean increasing it among all groups. Our Committee found that too many people face accessibility barriers, meaning that they either have a far worse experience when using public transport or simply cannot use it at all.

Disabled people use public transport 28% less than people without disabilities; public transport is a more affordable mode of travel than private car or taxi, so poor accessibility is another financial burden placed on a group who already have significant premiums due to their disabilities. In many rural areas like North Norfolk and North East Fife, the taxi service can be patchy at best, due to the nature of rurality. If a disabled person cannot or does not drive and cannot access a taxi, they will be isolated from employment opportunities, and cannot visit family and friends as easily as others. A two-tier system in rural North Norfolk is unacceptable; that is why it is so important for the Government and local councils to take steps to deliver greater accessibility in the transport system.

For many dealing with accessibility barriers in their area, the fight to get them removed can be long and drawn out. I ask Members to cast their mind back to the 2019 general election. I was a candidate in Mid Norfolk, and visited Wymondham station with a group of local campaigners to see the issue that they face with the station having no southbound step-free access. Since then, the campaigners have seen four Prime Ministers come and go, as well as five Transport Secretaries, ten junior Transport Ministers and seven Norwich City managers, and there is still no step-free access. I am very glad that. following years of campaigning from local Liberal Democrat councillors like Suzanne Nuri-Nixon—now well supported, I am assured by Suzanne and others, by my constituency colleague, the hon. Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough)—the Government have recently announced that they will be bringing forward plans for these improvements by the autumn. It will, however, have been a long seven years since I got involved, and even longer for many local residents, who have been without equitable access to their town’s railway station. In a country that demands equality for our citizens, making disabled people feel like they are second-class, and forcing them to wait so long for improvements, really is shameful.

I am glad that much of North Norfolk’s rail infrastructure is step-free and accessible, but the same cannot be said of our rural bus network. In rural areas, many bus stops are little more than a sign placed on a verge; in other cases, there is simply a local understanding that the bus might stop in a certain place. That might be good enough for some, but for those with access needs, it is far from a usable service. People need higher-quality, accessible bus infrastructure to allow them to utilise public transport. With that in mind, I hope that the Government might learn lessons from the “Buses connecting communities” report about new models for rural public. Transport hubs that create quality bus infrastructure that is linked into a strong network across rural areas can benefit all of us in many ways. For disabled people and those with access needs, it can give them the reassurance that they can be picked up and dropped off from an accessible stop.

When it comes to many of the reforms to public transport that we need, a more holistic view, in which we assess the issues that we face in the round, can deliver for groups across society. After all, better transport accessibility does not just benefit the people for whom it is essential; it makes choosing public transport easier and more convenient for everyone. The assessment that needs to be made of the experiences of disabled transport users, for instance, could flush out opportunities to improve the user experience for all current and would-be public transport patrons.

Whether it is clearer signage or better bus shelters, ramps or real-time information, it is in all our interests for the barriers to accessibility in public transport to be reduced and removed. I remain hopeful that the Government will take up what our Committee has found, and I know that Members from across the House look forward to working with them to make the recommendations a reality.

[Several hon. Members rose—]