Accessibility

Accessibility

TransPennine Express (TPE) is committed to making its trains and stations as accessible as possible, to give customers confidence in travelling and greater freedom to experience everything the North and Scotland has to offer. TPE’s dedicated Accessibility team works to ensure services, stations and digital content are inclusive and accessible to all. 

TPE continues to offer assistance to customers on their journey through Passenger Assist. During the past six months TPE arranged 7,900 passenger assists, with Period 7 recording the highest number of assists – at 1,581. There were more pre-booked assists (6,570) than un-booked assists (1,330).

Take a look below at the bookings for Passenger Assistance over the past 12 months (April 2021- April 2022):

During the past six months we have introduced several new initiatives to enhance accessibility at our stations and on our trains:

Goodmaps

In December we were the first UK rail operator to launch GoodMaps, a new inclusive virtual tool that provides a guide to stations to helps those who require additional support. Goodmaps, which is often described as ‘Sat Nav for inside’, helps customers with special accessibility needs navigate around stations, outlining where different features are located, including platforms, toilets, ticket offices and even the nearest coffee shop.

Goodmaps is available at seven of our stations on the route between Hull and Manchester Airport, including Hull, Brough, Selby, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Stalybridge and Manchester Airport, with plans to expand this to our other managed stations later this year.

Goodmaps can be downloaded here, where customers can receive turn by turn navigational instructions on any of our station’s features.

Booking Passenger Assistance on WhatsApp

In another first for the rail industry first, launched Passenger Assist via WhatsApp in November. Customers who need to book assistance for their journeys can now pre-book  using WhatsApp, making it even easier and providing another method to book assistance before travel.

The new service is monitored seven days a week, between 6am and 11pm (except Christmas Day and Boxing Day), and can be accessed on 07812 223 336. Customers requesting assistance via WhatsApp are asked to message ‘Assisted Travel’ to the number, and one of our colleagues will help with the booking.

Facebook Accessibility Group

In December 2021, we launched a new Facebook Accessibility Group, enabling us to build an online community where customers can connect, share ideas, and provide feedback on our services to help drive further improvements. The group already has more than 100 members and has become a key method for gathering feedback from customers about their experiences of travelling with TPE. It’s also been a great platform to share updates on upgrade works that have taken place – such as lifts at stations – providing up-to-date information on the progress of improvement work.

Tactile paving and braille wayfinding

In March, tactile paving was fitted around the steps at Hull station. This new paving will help those with vision impairments travel safely and independently, ensuring that important safety information is conveyed in a non-visual way. 

We have also installed tactile and braille wayfinding signage to handrails at both Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe stations. The braille wayfinding will assist customers, allowing them to travel more independently. The signs explain with printed, tactile words and Braille symbols where the stairs or ramp leads to.

In March this year, Network Rail completed a major £3 million accessibility upgrade at Northallerton station, with lifts now in place to help customers switch platforms.

As a Department for Transport funded Access for All scheme, the new lifts on Platforms 1 and 2 make it easier for our customers to use the station independently, particularly those with limited mobility, pushchairs, luggage, or bikes.

The installation of the lifts at Northallerton is brilliant news for our customers. It makes the station even more accessible, giving more people freedom to take the train and visit destinations across our network.