Passenger Lifts at Stations: The Ups and Downs of Accessibility
More lifts, more passengers but declining reliability
You can listen to the main article in this newsletter (I read it).
The Office for Rail and Road has published its reliability of passenger lifts at stations data. It's a tale of ups and downs.
Good News first, there are more lifts and old ones were replaced. As of 12 October 2024, there are 1,327 passenger lifts at 507 Network Rail-owned stations. That's a net increase of 50 lifts since October 2023. Even better, 37 shiny new lifts were opened at 18 stations between April and October 2024.
However, not all of these lifts are "new-new." Some, like at Bolton and Maidenhead, were replacements for older models. Still, a net addition of 35 lifts since March 2024 is a step (or lift ride) in the right direction for accessibility.
The Not-So-Good News: Faults on the Rise
Here's where things were stalled. Between April and October 2024, there were 5,253 lift faults – 9% more than during the same time last year. That's 4.0 faults per lift on average, up from 3.8 faults per lift last year.
Why so many faults?
Wear and tear: 63% of faults – a reminder that lifts, like all hardworking machines, need maintenance.
Misuse and vandalism: 23% – heavy bags, careless passengers, and the occasional anti-social behaviour take their toll.
External factors: 14% – think flooding, power surges, and even rats chewing cables (yes, really).
Unfortunately, the ORR doesn't give us figures for individual lifts. I would like to see the statistics for the infamous Thameslink lifts at St Pancras station. They seem to be more broken than they are working. They are such unreliable lifts that they even have their own (unofficial) website.
Time to Fix: A Slight Delay
When it comes to repairs, the average time to fix a lift fault increased by 1%, now sitting at 21.7 hours. Considering that every hour counts when passengers are relying on these lifts for access, that is a bit long, right?
Even more concerning, the number of faults that left lifts out of service for over a week skyrocketed by 41%, reaching 186 incidents.
Entrapments: A Sticky Situation
And then there is this awful topic of lift entrapments. Between April and October 2024, there were 398 entrapments – 22% up on the same period last year.
And buckle up! The average rescue response time for trapped passengers went up by 11% to 49 minutes. Interesting fact: that would be against the law in many other European countries where lift owners are dedicated to responding to a lift entrapment within 30 minutes. Even worse, entrapments over 75 minutes jumped by 42%, at 64 occurrences.
On a per-lift basis, entrapments increased by 17%, from 26 entrapments per 100 lifts to 30. These figures highlight the importance of quick response systems and stringent maintenance regimes.
Why the Increase?
The rise in faults and entrapments is not taking place in isolation. Passenger trips increased by 8% in the six months to September 2024, relative to the same six months last year. More passengers mean more wear and tear on lifts and a greater likelihood of abuse. But even so, if the rail industry wants to encourage more passengers to return, the level of lift reliability must return to the level of pre-COVID times and better. And fix the issues that haven't been working pre-COVID already (yes, you St Pancras lifts!).
Looking Ahead
While the increase in lifts is welcomed, the concerns regarding response times and reliability remind us that accessibility is an ongoing process. With overall passenger numbers on the up, disabled passengers' numbers are also rising, so the infrastructure demands will similarly rise and need planning as such. One lift per platform for major stations will no longer suffice.
Some interesting links
The Portland quad rugby team and members of three other teams, about 20 wheelchair users, were booked on a United Airlines flight from Louisville, Kentucky, to Chicago. Not only sent United’s passenger assist team only two (!) agents to assist 20 wheelchair users to the gate. They let the wheelchair users board and deboard three times. That’s six trips on an aisle chair multiplied by 20 with two members of staff. One of the rugby players ended up having to spend a night at the airport after the ordeal between airline seats and his wheelchair because there was no wheelchair-accessible taxi available. He ended up spending 40 hours in a chair.
And yes, that’s the same United Airlines that currently fights with other US airlines against the law improvements of the Biden government for wheelchair-using passengers.
Plans to provide step-free access at an Overground station are still stuck on the drawing board almost six years after being announced.
Something to watch
Mik Scarlet discusses accessible toilets and why the red cord belongs on the floor and should not be shortened.
Some final words
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Who is writing this newsletter?
I’m Christiane Link, and I improve the customer experience in aviation, transport, and travel. I worked as a journalist for over two decades and travelled extensively for business and leisure. I’m a wheelchair user.
Work with me
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