[holding answer 21 May 2007]: When undertaking refurbishment or installing new equipment at stations Network Rail and train operating companies are required to meet the technical standards in the Train and Station Service for Disabled Passengers: A Code of Practice (SRA, 2002).
In addition, new technical standards for stations are due to come into force shortly under the EU-wide Technical Standards for Interoperability; Persons of Reduced Mobility. This will apply to those with luggage, parents with prams and other groups, as well as disabled people.
Operators also have a duty under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to make reasonable adjustments to their services to ensure they are not impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to access.
Where a train operator or Network Rail cannot meet the required standards in the code of practice, they must apply to the Department for a dispensation.
As a result of the incoming European Technical Standards for Interoperability; Persons of Reduced Mobility, the Department are currently developing an updated code of practice to bring UK standards into line with the TSI.
The Railways for All strategy was launched on 26 March 2006. It sets out what the rail industry is doing to improve access to Britain's railways, particularly for people with disabilities, in line with the standards contained in the code.
Central to the strategy is the Access for All programme which provides £370 million of ring-fenced funding to improve accessibility at railway stations up to 2015.
In addition, around £7 million a year is available from the Access for All Small Schemes fund for train operators and other third parties to bid for on a match fund basis.
Train and station operators are required to have in place a Disabled Person's Protection Policy (DPPP) which sets out the organisation's policies and approach for helping disabled people and a summary of the accessible facilities at the stations they operate.