NETWORK rail chiefs have provided an update on plans to make Barnt Green Railway Station, which has left people with disabilities feeling ’embarrassed and stranded’ in the past, more accessible to navigate.
Three new lifts are set to be installed at the railway station, providing passengers with step-free access to all platforms for the first time in its history.
The firm told The Standard back in February it expected the work to be complete by summer 2024.
A Network Rail spokesperson told The Standard it was now looking to finalise a date to start building the new lifts, with passengers and residents set to be informed what to expect once a construction programme is confirmed.
The spokesperson added additional surveys were carried out before Christmas to ensure the planned upgrades meet updated fire regulations.
The lift designs are now being updated with letters to be sent to residents when the work programme is ready to be revealed in more detail.
Additional help points will also be installed on two of the platforms.
Much of the work is set to be completed outside operating hours and notice will be given to any disruption caused during the installation.
The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act made it a legal obligation to make all forms of public transport accessible to all.
In 2017, the Bromsgrove Rail User Group (BRUG) accused Network Rail of being in breach of the act after announcing the plans to install lifts at Barnt Green Station had been put on hold.
At the time, Network Rail said in the short term the Bromsgrove electrification project couldn’t bear the costs to create fully compliant level access on all platforms.
Two years later, wheelchair user Dylan Cummings told the Standard he felt embarrassed having to sit down to shuffle up and down stairs to cross the footbridge at the station to get to his intended platform, missing two trains in the ordeal.
He said he thought more could have been done in the intervening five years to make the station more accessible but added he was pleased the work was being carried out.
