Great Western Coffee Shop

Dear Graham

The Department for Transport (DfT) have asked Great Western Railway and Network Rail to nominate stations for Access for All funding.  £300 million is available to station projects across the UK, with the improvements being delivered within Control Period 6 (2019 to 2024). Selected stations will receive an accessible route into the station and to and between each platform.

There is no limit to the number of nominations we can make, but all nominations need to be ranked against specific criteria in the Appendix below and the DfT has asked for evidence to demonstrate how the stations meet the criteria.

We are working together to prepare our nominations and we would be very grateful if you could review the criteria and let us know which station(s) you think should be nominated and why by Monday 1 October.

To help with that we have created an online survey form on the following link https://tinyurl.com/y7no3k9l. Please use the document upload function at the bottom of the form to provide any evidence to support the nomination.

Please feel free to submit your own thoughts, or to send to others who you think might have suggestions. This is a nationwide bidding process and the additional detail that local knowledge can supply will be invaluable.

Schemes that have been previously been deferred do NOT need to be resubmitted. These go forward automatically, and we do not therefore need to rebid for lifts at Cheltenham Spa, Weston-super-mare or Theale.

Access for All funding is limited, it will not cover all the improvements we want to see, but with your help we believe we can submit compelling nominations that will help us deliver the more accessible railway that our customers want and deserve.

If you would like further information on the process, or on any aspect of our service, please do not hesitate to contact either of us and we will do our best to help.

Best wishes


Mark Hopwood and Mark Langman
 
MD GWR
MD NR Western Region

APPENDIX: Department for Transport Access for All funding

Nominated stations will be assessed primarily against similar criteria to those used in previous Control Periods.

These are:

·         Footfall, using figures published by the Office of Rail and Road (we will supply these)
·         Stations where there is a particularly high incidence of disability in the area, based on Census data
·         A particular local circumstance such as the proximity of hospitals, a school for disabled children or a military rehabilitation centre for example, or stations with relatively high numbers of interchange passengers
·         The availability of third party funding
·         Stations that would help to fill “gaps” in accessibility on the network



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It's hardly 'Access for All' if the funding is limited to a selection of competition winner stations and based on predetermined eligibilty criteria. ::)

If there's only a limited (ie NOT unlmited funding), it makes sense to use a set of criteria.

Long-awaited improvements for the distinctly disabled un-friendly Theale Station will be carried out after it was confirmed it had been selected for the next round of government funding.

The station in West Berkshire currently has no facilities for disabled people, but is set for a revamp in the next round of the government Access for All funding.

Reading West MP Alok Sharma confirmed there is no need to bid again as the station will receive funding.

No details of when the work will be carried out have been revealed yet.

Is this "Access for All"?   Is there a full list somewhere or has the MP jumped the gun?

From GetReading (https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/disabled-access-improvements-confirmed-for-one-station-as-tilehurst-bid-launches/)