People with disabilities hail more accessible rail travel

Letting the train take the strain is a sentiment many more Northern travellers can now get on board with, thanks to the rail operator's mobility scooter scheme.

More than 1,000 people with disabilities have signed up for a free permit, enabling them to safely board using electric mobility scooters at 160 stations, on 28 routes operated by Northern, the UK’s second-largest train operator.

Since the scheme was introduced two years ago, the Northern Accessibility User Group (NAUG), which works with the train company on improving access for all, has received many messages from travellers with disabilities, whose experiences have been transformed.

Tony Jennings, a mobility scooter user, collaborates with Northern on improving access to its services. He says, “We’ve had so much feedback from people saying, ‘This has changed my life!’; ‘I can now go and visit my family’, or ‘I can enjoy days out like everyone else.’

“Train travel is meant to be affordable, and not everyone has the means to buy a wheelchair-accessible car, so this scheme has transformed the lives of over 1,000 people – 1,000 families, in fact – by providing easier access to the world around them.”

Tony blazed a trail by becoming the first passenger to be issued with a permit to board a Northern train, using a ramp, at his local station, Ulverston in the Lake District

Now many others with a disability are also making the most of the greater freedom to travel the scheme has provided.

“We all want to take part in everything society has to offer, whether that's work, education or leisure,” says Tony. ‘Soon after I got my permit, my wife and I had friends staying with us, and together we travelled the length of the Cumbrian coastline – one of the most beautiful