Doing Transport Differently Station story: Canterbury West

Canterbury West was an old Victorian station dating back to 1846. With the introduction of high speed services taking passengers into London in less than hour from the station in 2009, it has become more and more popular. Using funding from the National Stations Improvement Programme and the Access for All programme,

Southeastern provided:

• a new footbridge and two lifts to provide a step-free route between the entrance and all platforms;
• tactile paving along the platform edges;
• a new enlarged booking hall;
• refurbished, accessible toilets;
• a new waiting room;
• an enlarged café area;
• secure cycle parking; and
• improvements to the lighting and forecourt.

When the station was reopened in December 2010, transport minister Norman Baker said: ‘We want public transport that is accessible to everyone and that is why the government has provided £2.7m to make these vital changes at Canterbury West which will benefit passengers using this busy station. We are determined to promote equality and fairness for all which is why we continue to fund the Access for All scheme which is enabling important accessibility work to be carried out at railway stations across the country.’

One local Disabled Persons Railcard holder said: ‘When I think back to my times as an able-bodied commuter in the 80s with the old slam-door trains, I am amazed at how much train travel has changed. For one, there’s no way I could have completed my daily Canterbury to London Bridge journey as a disabled person.’

To download your free copy of Doing Transport Differently visit the Radar website.  

There has been progress - but sometimes a lack of information - Read Doing Transport Differently an attempt to put this right

When I left school in 1965 there was no choice but to use a car or, in my case, an ‘invalid tricycle’ provided by the then Department of Health.

There was not an accessible taxi in the country. If I travelled by rail I was placed into a dark, cold and dreary guard’s van. The only accessible vehicles were owned by charities that controlled their use. None of the pavements were ramped so it was impossible to get to the bus-stop. It was also futile because none of the buses were accessible.

During the 1980s Radar and other organisations did a huge amount of work to make the case that transport should be suitable for disabled people. Even when the government and transport operators accepted the argument, more work was required to decide how to make transport accessible and to agree what was meant by ‘accessible’.

The debate moved on. No longer was it necessary to just meet the needs of wheelchair users. The needs of people with other mobility impairments had to be met. Colour-contrasting assisted visually impaired people, better handrails were welcomed by people with arthritis, better signing assisted deaf people and clearer information helped those with learning disabilities.

During the last two decades much of the public transport in the UK has become accessible to disabled people although there remains much to do. Despite this progress, the missing element is often that some disabled people have insufficient information about what is available and therefore lack the confidence to use it. This guide is an attempt to put that right.

The information you need to get out and about is between the covers of this publication. That is why I very much welcome this new guide in Radar’s Doing Life Differently Series. Like all the publications in the series, Doing Transport Differently can be easily downloaded from the Radar website. All that remains is for you, the reader, to Do Transport Differently.

The free PDF of Doing Transport Differently will be available to download from the Radar website from 7th December 2011.

‘I like the overground trains in London the best…’

I live and work in London and with my acting, work in disability and leadership, I travel a lot. I like the overground trains in London the best – they’re spacious and very accessible in terms of having live information written on screens as well as voiced over.

Of course, trains can frustrate me. When there are delays, the information is only relayed by microphone and that means that because I am deaf I have to ask someone to pass on that information or suffer in silence.

I also like the tube because it is fast and the information is really clear and easy to use. I do think it can be made much more accessible though, particularly for wheelchair users. Still, public transport is getting there. Radar’s Doing Transport Differently will help all of us to get there too.

Genevieve Barr