Accessibility and inclusion

We want everyone who chooses to travel on the railway to  have a worry-free and reliable experience. To achieve this we are using an approach known as ‘human-centered design’  when designing the railway.

What is human-centred design?

Human-centred design is an approach to  problem-solving that puts the people we are designing for at the heart of the process  and starts long before the railway is up and  running. Right now, we’re working hard to  identify gaps between industry standards and best practice, creating a culture that  recognises and values inclusivity and  accessibility for everyone. This includes our  customers, colleagues, supply chain, and the communities we serve.

We are working hard to design and build a railway that meets a range of physical,  mobility, neurodiversity and mental wellbeing  needs and assessing where we can remove  barriers to achieve our vision. The Equality  Impact Assessment process as outlined in the Our approach to equality factsheet also plays an important role in informing our  design development. By considering different  people’s needs we can deliver infrastructure and services that are appropriate and inclusive for everyone. 

Customer needs we are considering include those listed below:

• Customers who are wheelchair users.
• Customers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Customers with visual impairments.
• Customers with dementia.
• Customers who are neurodivergent.
• Customers who have mobility impairments.
• Customers with young children.
• Customers with impairments that are not obvious.
• Customers with luggage.

Accessibility Advisory Panel

We have a duty to understand the impacts of  our decision making on people from protected  groups, in particular disabled people. We’ve set up an Accessibility Advisory Panel, made up of local people who live along the route who have lived experiences of disability.  Meeting regularly with the panel to discuss our proposals and their experiences of travelling is helping us to better understand barriers to travel, identify opportunities for more  inclusive access, and understand the impacts to communities from the work we do. We’ve set up our panel at an early stage of delivery to  address inclusion and accessibility across the  railway, from stations and platforms to level  crossings and beyond. You can read more about our Accessibility Advisory Panel here: eastwestrail.co.uk/news/latest-stories/east-west-rail-has-opportunity-to-lead-the-way-for-accessibility-on-uk-railways