{"id":2000,"date":"2019-09-29T19:04:50","date_gmt":"2019-09-29T18:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/?p=2000"},"modified":"2020-02-26T21:08:53","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T21:08:53","slug":"disabled-access-at-marsden-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/?p=2000","title":{"rendered":"Disabled Access at Marsden Station: Updated 02\/11\/2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Slaithwaite\n& Marsden Action on Rail Transport is concerned to learn that the\nTranspennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will not, contrary to previous expectations,\nprovide full disabled access to Marsden station. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had been understood that the Northern Hub proposals, and the TRU which superseded them, would involve provision of full disabled access at stations along the route, not only Marsden but also Greenfield and Mossley. The expectation has been that the same standards for disabled access would apply as are being offered in the current consultation relating to stations east of Huddersfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the basis\nthat TRU would sort out disabled access issues, Marsden and other stations\nalong the route have been excluded from bidding for Access for All funding for disabled\naccess. It is completely unacceptable that overdue and necessary improvements\nto disabled access have been delayed on a basis which has now turned out to be false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We expected TRU\nto be a catalyst to deliver essential improvements to disabled access. Instead,\nit has caused those improvements to be indefinitely deferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a community\nMarsden has both a growing elderly population and an increase in families and\nin order for these groups to access the train service it is essential that\ndisabled access issues are resolved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears that\nthe alternative sources of funding are subject to a bidding process in which a\nMarsden station bid could be competing against rival bids from, amongst others,\nthe neighbouring stations of Greenfield and Mossley. This is no substitute for\na comprehensive scheme which addresses access issues at all stations along the\nroute, and it is unacceptable to try to play one station off against another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirklees\nCouncil has, at very short notice, now been allowed to submit a bid for\ndisabled access funding from other sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMARTs view has\nbeen, and will continue to be, that provision of full disabled access at all\nstations along the route should be a core element of TRU rather than an\noptional extra. Notwithstanding this view, SMART is supportive of bids to\nsecure disabled access from funding from other sources. It is on this basis\nthat SMART supports the current submission from Kirklees Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The May 2018\ntimetable changes saw westbound trains using platform two rather than the\naccessible platform three. This represented a reduction in disabled access from\n50% to 0%. We cannot think of anywhere else on the rail network where disabled\naccess has been significantly reduced rather than improved. This was accepted on\nthe understanding that it was intended to be a temporary reduction in disabled\naccess pending the Transpennine Route Upgrade addressing these issues. It\nappears now that the reduction in disabled access is for an indefinite period,\nwhich cannot be considered an acceptable state of affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We would\nfurther question the legality of reducing the level of disabled access with no\nplans as to how when or whether that level of disabled access will be\nreinstated and improved upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst the\nheight of platform two was raised in the Spring of 2019, notwithstanding claims\nto the contrary this did not address accessibility issues between the street\nand the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several\nmonths, SMART has been asking for answers to what ought to be simple questions regarding\nthe Transpennine Route Upgrade.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our modest\naspirations for TRU are for it to deliver a local train service of two trains\nper hour, plus full disabled access at all stations. We are not asking for\nspecial treatment. We are merely asking for what most routes and stations in\nthe Leeds and Manchester city regions already take for granted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unwarranted\nsecrecy about TRU means that we cannot get answers to these basic questions.\nSenior figures in the railway industry are fond of talking about the need to involve\npassengers in decision making processes, but this shows that they do not mean\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaked\ncorrespondence from Network Rail indicates severe disruption at communities\nincluding Marsden and Slaithwaite over a five year construction period. The\ncommunities affected should not, and cannot, be expected to be supportive of\nthe TRU if it gives five years of disruption but fails to deliver basic\nimprovements at the end of that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Network Rail\nclaim to have undertaken consultation about potential disruption during the\nconstruction phase of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, but there has been no\nconsultation in communities such as Marsden where the impact of disruption is\nlikely to be greatest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We call on\nNetwork Rail to enter into proper consultation with passengers and communities\nalong the route, in a competent and professional manner. The consultation needs\nto cover both the outcomes which TRU will deliver and how disruption during the\nconstruction period will be managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We call upon the Secretary of State for Transport to direct Network Rail and his department to reinstate full disabled access at Marsden and all other stations along the route as a core element of the Transpennine Route Upgrade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDIT 02\/11\/2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMART understands that a bid has now been submitted for Access For All Mid Tier funding. This has been prepared by West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Kirklees Council and others. It is suggested that the bid has been fronted by WYCA, but we do not have confirmation of this. Whether the amounts involved, if approved, are sufficient to fully address access issues at Marsden, seems doubtful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding the bid, which SMART supports, SMART continues to be of the opinion that the correct course of action is for the DfT to acknowledge that they should not have treated disabled access as an optional extra which could be deleted from the Transpennine Route Upgrade; and to reinstate disabled access as a core element of TRU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another possibly related development, Network Rail has during the week of 28th October been issuing questionnaires about disabled access at Marsden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey can also be completed online at
https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSfeD0vr7H1dqBra8EIX213JGKFmO8fLaXd879eM2rYcHEyZcQ\/viewform <\/a>Even if you have nothing to put in some of the comments boxes, the form will be rejected unless you put something in every comments box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correspondence between Thelma Walker MP and the Department for Transport, below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EDIT 12\/02\/2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the general election campaign our new MP, Jason\nMcCartney, said that he was sorry to hear about the cancelled station upgrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said that he would do all he could to make the case\nfor reinstating the plan for full disabled access, and that these issues would\nbe high on his agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need for TRU to provide full disabled access at all stations along the route has also been highlighted at successive Transport for the North (TfN) board meetings, at which government minister were present, by both Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Councillor Judith Blake (West Yorkshire representative on the TfN board). Hopefully the ministers will listen and act upon what they heard, and over-rule those civil servants who think that disability access is some sort of low-priority optional extra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UPDATE 26\/02\/2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of stations given funding for accessibility improvements under the Access For All Mid-Tier funding was published today. Marsden and Slaithwaite are not on that list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Slaithwaite & Marsden Action on Rail Transport is concerned to learn that the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will not, contrary to previous expectations, provide full disabled access to Marsden station. It had been understood that the Northern Hub proposals, and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,59,77],"tags":[8,78],"class_list":["post-2000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campaigning","category-marsden","category-transpennine-route-upgrade","tag-marsden","tag-transpennine-route-upgrade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2000"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2091,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000\/revisions\/2091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smart-rail.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}