2024 General Election: UK Political Parties Plans for Accessible Transport

As the 2024 General Election approaches, it’s crucial to understand where the major UK political parties stand on accessible transport. While their detailed plans for key issues like taxation, immigration, and the NHS are well-documented, their commitments to accessible transport remain less clear. Here’s a summary of their positions:

Conservative Party

The Conservatives have pledged to reallocate £36 billion saved from the HS2 project to fund transport initiatives nationwide. They have supported initiatives like the Access for All programme and the Williams-Shapps plan to enhance railway system accessibility.

· Accessibility improvements: Plans to improve accessibility at 100 train stations, starting with 50 stations announced in May.

· Pavement parking: Proposes giving councils the power to ban pavement parking, considering feedback from older and disabled people.

· Aims to make the UK the most accessible place in the world for people with disabilities to live, work, and thrive.

Labour Party

Labour commits to investing in bus services, ensuring all new buses are equipped with audiovisual information systems. Their ‘Breaking Down Barriers’ manifesto likely includes measures for transport accessibility, though there is no specific detail on this.

· Review and reform: Pledges to review Universal Credit and reform or replace the Work Capability Assessment.

· More power to metro mayors: “to create unified and integrated transport systems” in the regions under their control, which could potentially impact local transport accessibility

· Support for disabled people: Aims to help more disabled people and those with health conditions into employment.

The Green Party

The Green Party advocates for public ownership and significant investment in active travel infrastructure. Their policies aim to enhance transport accessibility alongside their environmental goals.

· Accessibility standards: Proposes developing new accessibility standards for buildings and streets to meet the needs of disabled people.

· Planning and building control: Supports improvements to ensure all homes are accessible in various ways, including accommodating wheelchairs.

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats emphasize the need to simplify and integrate transport systems, focusing on affordability and accessibility, with a strong push for local control and sustainable development.

Disability Rights UK View

Disability Rights UK has expressed concern that the political parties have not adequately addressed the important issue of transport accessibility for disabled people in their election platforms. The organisation has stated: “Disability Rights UK is disappointed that after considering all of the party manifestos, not one commits in any detail how they will tackle the huge challenges that Disabled people face in using trains, buses and taxis.”

While welcoming some pledges for a greater focus on accessibility issues, Disability Rights UK has argued that these do not go far enough.

ORA's Reflections

Despite the crucial importance of accessible transport for the 16million disabled people in the UK, none of the major parties have provided comprehensive plans to address the significant challenges faced by disabled passengers when accessing and using public transport. This is deeply concerning. Significant improvements are needed in various areas, including:

· Enhancing the physical accessibility of stations and aviation.

· Ensuring reliable staffing and assistance for disabled passengers.

· Providing accessible information for journey planning.

· Implementing fair and consistent concessions systems.

· Holding operators accountable for accessibility failures.

· Setting clear and measurable targets to close the transport accessibility gap.

Accessible transport is not a luxury; it is a necessity for preventing isolation and promoting equality. Advocacy and engagement remain crucial. Let’s ensure accessible transport becomes a priority in UK politics.