Passenger Assistance Points Helping Disabled Rail Travellers

New facilities designed to give disabled customers the confidence to travel by train have been installed at dozens of stations by train operator Northern.

Passenger Assistance Points have been introduced at stations, including Windermere, Warrington Central, Rotherham Central and Bradford Interchange.

Each point is located close to the ticket office, where customers should check in first. They are then invited to take a seat in the designated area so a member of staff can meet them when it is time to go for the train.

As part of the trial, nine Meeting Points have been installed at unstaffed stations, including Headingley, Horsforth and Hornbeam Park.

Disabled customers can wait in the marker area so they can be seen by a conductor when the train arrives and then be offered assistance.

Northern’s Accessibility User Group (NAUG), which represent people with a wide range of disabilities, worked with the operator to develop and deliver the project.

“Anything that makes it easier to access passenger assistance can only be a good thing,” said Mark Cutter, Chair of NAUG.

“I am particularly interested to see how the new Meeting Points work in unstaffed station. I hope they will give more people the confidence to travel and use passenger assistance.

“Travelling from an unstaffed station can be stressful for anyone, but for disabled people and those requiring assistance it can simply be a reason not to travel.”

Anyone who has questions about how to use one of the new meeting points can contact Northern’s Passenger Assistance Team, which is open 24 hours a day seven days a week (excluding Christmas Day).

Visit https://northernrail.my.site.com/s/article/Assisted-Travel-1 for more information.

Passenger Assistance Points have been installed at Poulton-le-Fylde, Morecambe, St Annes-on-the-Sea, Burnley Manchester Road, Barnsley, Meadowhall, Worksop, Rotherham Central, Mexborough, Bridlington, Beverley, Halifax, Ilkley, Windermere, St Helens Central, Chorley, Warrington Central, Skipton, Keighley, Shipley (Yorks), Harrogate, Newton-le-Willows, Whitehaven, Workington, Bradford Forster Square, Bradford Interchange, New Pudsey, Hexham, Morpeth, Hartlepool and Alnmouth stations.

Meeting Points have been installed at Headingley, Horsforth, Burley Park, Weeton, Pannal, Hornbeam Park, Ashington, Seaton Delaval and Newsham stations.