Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance her Department has issued on increasing (a) station accessibility and (b) rolling stock accessibility for mobility scooters on the rail network.

The Secretary of State publishes Design Standards for Accessible Railway Stations, which licenced operators must follow whenever they install, renew or replace infrastructure or facilities in Great Britain.

Train and station operators are required by their operating licences to establish and comply with an Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) which must be approved by the Office of Rail and Road.  An ATP sets out, among other things, the arrangements and assistance that an operator will provide to protect the interests of disabled people using its services and to facilitate such use.

The guidance states that operators must set out their policies regarding the carriage of mobility scooters and other mobility aids for mobility-impaired people on their trains. Operators must make the reasoning behind their policies clear, particularly with regard to any policy excluding the carriage of some or all mobility scooters and mobility aids.

Operators must also provide as part of their ATP a separate document that gives details of services and facilities at all of the stations they manage, and other stations called at by their services, including relevant stations operated by Network Rail.