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Sarah Barnard spent more than two hours getting back to Twyford from London due to a lack of disabled facilities
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Furious mum calls for 24-hour disabled access at Twyford station

By Jon Nurse
February 12, 2013

An angry mum is calling for 24-hour disabled access at Twyford station after a humiliating journey with her son.

Hurst mum Sarah Barnard, 46, spent more than two hours trying to get from London to Twyford on Sunday, January 27, after being sent on an unsuccessful detour to Reading with wheelchair-bound Theodore.

Now the mum-of-three is insisting on action from First Great Western (FGW) to avoid more families being embarrassed by the limited service.

She said: “It ended up being a disaster. We couldn’t even get off the train [at Twyford]. It spoiled the whole trip.

“They have ramps and lifts but there are times you can’t access them.

“We did the research [for travel] to the British Museum and the timetable website could check on services that are wheelchair accessible. Nothing popped up to suggest we couldn’t use it at a certain time.”

Miss Barnard and 12-year-old Theodore, who has cerebral palsy, were sent to Reading where they were advised to wait for a disabled access taxi which never came. Station staff eventually decided to escort them back to Twyford with a ramp.

“The guys that helped us were really lovely, it was just a rubbish system,” Miss Barnard added. “It was humiliating for Theodore. We should be able to use facilities that are already there.

“We are not the first people this has happened to. A man was stranded on the middle platform on New Year’s Eve.

“It makes me angry, when they opened the lifts there was a big hoo-ha - but it’s not true.”

The station lift opened in November 2009 and is available while the station is staffed between 6am and 7pm on weekdays and 8am to 3.30pm at weekends.

FGW provide free alternative transport from an accessible station to an unaccessible station during unmanned hours.

A FGW spokesman said: “Railway infrastructure dates back 160 years and we know many of our stations need work to improve accessibility.

“In the past three years we have delivered improvements at over 40 stations, spending in excess of £6m.

“To ensure best value for money we have to prioritise which station improvements will benefit the most number of people.

“We will be considering accessibility at Twyford in future works programmes.”

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Most recent user comments 6 of 6

A horrible and humiliating experience for Theodore and Sarah. The extent that FGW cares about this is demonstrated by what is missing from their statement: - It does not mention what happened to Theodore and Sarah. - There is no apology - There is no indication of what they might do to prevent this happening to somebody else, eg make sure all the relevant information is on-line.

So basically they really don't care and have just used this as an opportunity to tell everybody how wonderful they are

earleymum
13/02/2013 at 10:42

When you build an extension, or do home improvement building work like a loft conversion, you are forced to consider building regulations, sometimes for the entire house, including the bits you are not touching. This adds to the cost, but is a requirement. So how can FGW/NR "improve" a station by providing lifts, but *avoid* accessibilty requirements outside of staffed hours when the station is still in use???

FGW/NR installed a new bridge with lifts over the last 3 years or so, and in doing so have provided access to the middle platform. This is the one that stopping down services (from London) use, and occassional fast up services. But despite doing this, they have not considered accessibility fully. Therefore they have not complied with accessibility laws that say businesses must be made to be accessible to all people, regardless of disability.

All they would have needed to do is make the lifts useable at all times. Quite why they can only be used when the station is manned is quite strange to me, especially as they all go home in the middle of the day on a weekend. Even getting home from a football match at Maidenhead would be impossible for people in a wheelchair.

How about just adding a disabled key fob to the lift button (as per disabled toilets), or adding remote operation with CCTV as per @BeefCake's suggestion, or just putting extra CCTV on the lifts and making them work 24/7. It is extra cost, but not *that* much, and would meet legal requirements on accessibility that FGW/NR just seem to avoid.

mavdo, Wokingham
12/02/2013 at 14:24

You'd think that the lift could at least be operated manually like the 'Magic Lift' at Reading station. Punter gets off the train; gets themself in front of the lift CCTV; hits a button; gets verified as a person in need; operator opens the doors. Not rocket science....

Beef Cake Argh!
12/02/2013 at 11:02

The surprising thing is that Twyford station isn't manned for longer as this situation is ridiculous. I don't know how frequently the family use trains, but if it is infrequently, they have been a bit naive just checking one website, but it is shocking that they have a lift at Twyford Station, but it can only be used when staff can be bothered to be working. As a mid sized station, I would expect it to be manned whilst trains are arriving and departing at the station, therefore the lift could be fully operational.

Smiffy, Reading
12/02/2013 at 10:50

“In the past three years we have delivered improvements at over 40 stations, spending in excess of £6m." - that's 50k/year, per station.

FGW profits - "In the year to March 31, the transport company, which operates businesses in the UK and US, saw revenues rise to £6.7bn from £6.4bn"

Nationalise the train services, please, rather than pumping public money into subsidised private companies to make individuals a profit.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
12/02/2013 at 10:30

Not sure FGW should be boasting about what works they have done - making details clear and correct on the website would take about as long to type and achieve something of value too.