Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of (a) driver controlled operation and (b) stations which are unstaffed or staffed part-time on accessibility for disabled people who wish to travel without pre-booking on Southern Railways.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) have both confirmed that the driver operating the doors is a safe method of working. It is vital that train operators have policies in place so that passengers with disabilities are able to travel with confidence. ORR is the organisation which is responsible for the approval and monitoring of operators’ Disabled People’s Protection Policies (DPPP). Following the introduction of driver-controlled operation on Southern, ORR carried out a period of enhanced monitoring to ensure that policies were in place on Southern so that disabled passengers, regardless of whether they had pre-booked assistance or chose to travel spontaneously, and regardless of whether they were travelling to a staffed or unstaffed station, were able to complete their journey. ORR concluded that GTR had provided assurance that it has the systems and processes in place for this purpose. ORR continues to monitor operators’ compliance with their DPPP, and the Department supports it in doing so.