FIGHT AGAINST TICKET FRAUD MUST NOT REDUCE STATION ACCESSIBILITY WARNS COUNCILLOR

12.03.00am GMT Mon 16th Mar 2009

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion, Councillor Christian Vassie has welcomed what he called "constructive engagement" from National Express over concerns that planned improvements to York Railway Station would reduce the accessibility of the station.

National Express visited the Social Inclusion Working Group last week to discuss their plans for the transformation of York Railway Station.

The working group represents the voices of those with disability problems, people from different ethnic backgrounds, the elderly, those with learning difficulties, the gay community, and others.

Top of the agenda was the issue of ticket gates. Concerns were raised as to how people with mobility problems or push chairs or wheel chairs might access the concourse. National Express explained that there would be two types of ticket gate and a hinged gate to allow access to platforms.

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion, Councillor Christian Vassie chairs the working group. He welcomed National Express' decision to discus the plans with the working group.

Councillor Vassie said, "I am glad that National Express have decided to discuss their plans with us. They seemed genuinely willing to engage with the concerns and ideas that were put forward by the group."

"I was reassured that care would be taken to ensure the gates operate as they do elsewhere in the country and that these would not present an insurmountable problem for people wanting to access the platforms."

However, despite these reassurances Councillor Vassie said he was still concerned that plans to close off access to the concourse from the short stay car park would cause problems for many people. He said, "At present people are able to access the concourse directly but the plans as currently developed would close this off."

"Many people, parents with pushchairs or young children, carers and wheelchair users, people accompanying elderly relatives make use of the short stay car park and will all have to walk right round the outside of the station to access the platforms if the current plans go ahead. "

"In an age when we are working to improve accessibility for all this would be a retrograde step. National Express did show they were listening to the concerns voiced about this issue and I hope they can work with planners and the city council to change their plans."

"We cannot overstate the importance of the station to York. A high percentage of our visitors come by train. It is therefore quite right that great care is taken to ensure that an understandable desire to cut down the fraud of people travelling without tickets doesn't end up creating a station that is less accessible than at present."

Member of the working group also raised issues about making information about platform changes to the train service available to those with hearing difficulties and those who struggled to understand spoken English over the Tannoy system.

This might either involve expanding the number of visual display screens or ensuring that staff make more of an effort to approach people standing on the platform to check that they are aware of any changes to the schedule.