Why has Luton station waited 18 years for lifts?

Ben Schofield/BBC Karen James, seated in a wheelchair and looking direct to camera, with her husband Mansfield holding the chair's handles. They are outside and Karen is wearing a thick black coat that ends below her knees. She has silvery hair cut into a bob. Mansfield is standing and wearing a red bobble hat, dark glasses, a dark fleece and blue jeans. They are on the edge of a grassed area, with white art deco style buildings and some trees in the background. — Karen James stated it took her about 20 minutes to stroll up the steps at Luton railway station whereas her husband Mansfield carried her wheelchair

For nearly twenty years, passengers at a city’s predominant railway station have repeatedly been promised lifts – however they’ve by no means arrived.

Travellers at Luton, named amongst England’s 10 worst stations in 2009, nonetheless face flights of stairs to achieve most platforms.

Gold medal-winning Paralympian and wheelchair person Baroness Tanni Gray-Thompson stated the 18-year wait was “ridiculous” and “utterly unacceptable”.

Community Rail acknowledged “how irritating the delays are” and apologised.

It plans to start out preparatory work within the spring however didn’t understand how lengthy the undertaking would take or how a lot it might price.

So what has the wait meant for passengers with disabilities?

Luton railway station was initially constructed with three platforms in 1868 and was rebuilt in 1937

Ben Schofield/BBC Looking up an imposing brick wall, with a "welcome to Luton" sign hanging over a doorway, which is only partially visible. Higher above the sign is a clock, with a white face and Roman numerals. — Luton railway station was initially constructed with three platforms in 1868 and was rebuilt in 1937

Final 12 months, 3.6 million passengers used Luton – the 144th busiest station within the UK.

Karen James, 53, is unlikely to be amongst them sooner or later.

In Might, she moved away from the Bedfordshire city the place she had lived all her life, partly as a result of continued lack of lifts.

A wheelchair person since 2018, she has osteoarthritis in her again, and fibromyalgia which causes power fatigue, mind fog and dizziness.

She beforehand used the station to go to her son and 20-month-old grandson in Welwyn in neighbouring Hertfordshire.

However 4 of its 5 platforms are solely accessible by stairs, which she finds agonising and take her “eternally” to climb.

“My husband must bump down the wheelchair,” she added.

4 of the station’s 5 platforms are solely accessible by stairs

Ben Schofield/BBC Looking down an empty flight of stairs at Luton station. There are yellow, metal handrails along the walls and a central yellow handrail running along the middle of the flight. Each step has a yellow kick guard on its edge. At the bottom of the stairs a vending machine can be seen on the platform as well as a glimpse of the railway tracks and an information board at the bottom. — 4 of the station’s 5 platforms are solely accessible by stairs

Going again up was worse than descending.

“It took me 20 minutes or so to rise up the steps and I used to be simply exhausted,” she stated.

“While you’ve obtained disabilities, you must be capable to have entry to the whole lot you want, like transport.”

Luton station has a carry to a ticket workplace however platforms one to 4 can solely be accessed through stairs

Ben Schofield/BBC The exterior of Luton Station, as seen from the town centre side of the tracks. Two lampposts stand either side of a set of stairs that dog-leg from the street level to an un-seen ticket office. A red and white railway sign can be seen on the left of the image. There is tarmac in the foreground and a blue sky with thin clouds hangs above the station. — Luton station has a carry to a ticket workplace however platforms one to 4 can solely be accessed through stairs

Luton’s passengers had been first promised higher entry in 2006 when Labour ministers launched an Entry for All fund, promising £370m over 10 years.

Luton was among the many first 42 stations in line for a few of that funding, which the Division for Transport (DfT) stated would “typically” embody “the availability of lifts or ramps”.

Three years later, then transport secretary Lord Adonis promised a portion of a £50m enchancment fund.

In 2014, the Conservative authorities introduced Luton would share one other £100m from Entry for All, when railways minister Baroness Kramer stated the cash would “make an actual distinction to the lives of disabled passengers”.

Tasks could be “accomplished by 2019”, however work at Luton and several other different stations was postponed.

Platforms ‘not robust sufficient’

One other announcement in 2019 stated the undertaking could be re-started, with work “accomplished by the top of March 2024”.

For a lot of this era, there was an ambition to utterly rebuild the station, partly financed by means of entry funding, nevertheless it didn’t get off the bottom.

Most lately, station proprietor Community Rail stated “detailed design work” had revealed platform extensions – put in in 2010 – weren’t robust sufficient to bear the burden of the deliberate lifts.

Strengthening work is because of start subsequent spring.

Marie McCormick has dystonia and the prospect of tackling stairs causes her “panic”

Ben Schofield/BBC Looking direct to camera, Marie McCormick is standing outside Luton Station. She is wearing a yellow corduroy jacket and a flower print silk scarf. She has shoulder length blond hair. Her head is slightly tilted and twisted due to her living with dystonia. — Marie McCormick has dystonia and the prospect of tackling stairs causes her “panic”

Marie McCormick, 64, has dystonia, which causes muscle spasms in her higher limbs and neck, and she or he stated the state of affairs was “discriminatory”.

“Policymakers have an obligation of care to offer equality in public areas,” she stated.

She want to use trains extra for days out and hospital appointments, however stated utilizing the steps would give her “palpitations”.

Poor entry made her and others with disabilities susceptible to “isolation…. it simply exacerbates the social exclusion”.

Baroness Tanni Gray-Thompson stated Luton’s expertise ought to immediate “critical questions”

PA Media Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson looking direct to camera. She is wearing a lilac top, with frilled collar and cuffs, black trousers, and dark framed, rectangular glasses. She is seated in a wheelchair. The top of one wheel is visible on the right of the image. Her hands are folded on her lap. She is posing in front of an advertising hoarding, which has the names of several brands printed on it. — Baroness Tanni Gray-Thompson stated Luton’s expertise ought to immediate “critical questions”

Baroness Gray-Thompson, who crawled off a practice in London in the summertime when help didn’t arrive after 20 minutes, stated there was a “large sense of frustration” within the failure to carry ageing stations updated.

She stated Luton’s 18-year wait appeared “a ridiculous period of time”.

“When individuals see the station goes to get Entry for All funding, there may be an assumption that there is going to be fairly main change,” she stated.

“If the funding’s there and the need is there, these type of issues ought to simply occur.

“There must be some actually critical questions requested about why is it so sophisticated to do it.”

In a press release, the unbiased London TravelWatch watchdog stated implementation had been “painfully sluggish” and “extraordinarily irritating” for wheelchair customers, in addition to for passengers with buggies or heavy baggage.

“It’s one in every of [our] key priorities to make sure this programme of labor is best applied throughout the community, to make sure all stations are extra accessible,” it stated.

“We perceive the work at Luton will start subsequent spring, and look ahead to this work being accomplished with out additional delays.”

Luton is usually served by Thameslink and East Midlands Railway trains

Ben Schofield/BBC A look along a near-deserted platform at Luton station, with tracks sweeping away into the distance, from bottom right into the middle-left of the image. The station's 1930s clock tower is just visible in the background, as is a footbridge over the tracks. — Luton is usually served by Thameslink and East Midlands Railway trains

Native MP Rachel Hopkins stated the continued delays weren’t acceptable

Ben Schofield/BBC Rachel Hopkins, wearing a bright red overcoat and patterned silk scarf, is standing outside Luton Station looking direct to camera. She is wearing dark rimmed glasses and has brown, shoulder-length hair. Behind her, the station entrance is seen, with pedestrians milling about and some signs. — Native MP Rachel Hopkins stated the continued delays weren’t acceptable

Luton South and South Bedfordshire Labour MP Rachel Hopkins stated she had heard “varied causes” for the delays.

“It was pushed from one finances interval to the subsequent finances interval, then it was Covid, then it was all of the designs, then it was ‘we’re making an attempt to start out, however we discovered some issues’,” she stated.

She stated Community Rail “is not project-managing it correctly sufficient”.

“For them to maintain delaying – I do not assume it is acceptable.”

Station operator Govia Thameslink stated it needed lifts put in “as quickly as doable” and was supporting Community Rail.

Station workers, it added, would assist passengers and organize different transport to Luton Airport Parkway for these unable to handle stairs.

Since Entry for All launched, step-free accessible routes have been constructed at greater than 250 stations.

Gavin Criminal, principal programme sponsor for Community Rail’s East Midlands route, stated: “We’re dedicated to offering entry enhancements at Luton station and are sorry that is taking longer that we want.”

A DfT spokesperson stated: “Everybody ought to be capable to journey with ease and confidence, which is why this authorities is dedicated to bettering the accessibility of our railways.

“Whereas earlier plans for enhancements at Luton station had been delayed on the time on account of design challenges, Community Rail is now accountable for the works, that are progressing.”

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