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International Day of Persons with Disabilities - Joanne
by Joanne Tick, member of RDG's Disability Awareness Network
Hello, my name is Joanne and I’m an Accreditation Analyst at RDG and a member of its Disability Awareness Network.
I have two disabilities which affect my life on a daily basis: I’m dyslexic and have Fibromyalgia (not easy to spell as a dyslexic!)
I didn’t find out that I was dyslexic until I was 42 and was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia around the same time.
The biggest issue I have with Dyslexia is not trusting myself, because although my guesstimates feel right, in a work environment where I have responsibility to my colleagues, the business and ultimately our customers, I always need to check with someone that I’m correct.
The biggest element of Fibromyalgia is that its impact can be unpredictable. One day I will feel fine, the next day I can be totally knocked out and can barely walk back to my car from the train station.
I’m aware that these can sound like minor issues in comparison to those of others, and I feel a bit of a fraud at times listing my problems as disabilities. But even if they are invisible, this can have its own disadvantages. And while I notice people trying to think more inclusively, it’s not easy for others to understand if they themselves don’t live it. Indeed, I think there has been a wonderful move towards including everyone over the last few years and I applaud it, but there is still a long way to go for us to see a truly inclusive and equal society which allows everyone the same choices.
Looking at the rail industry, I would like us to continue working together and towards having all-inclusive stations, where everyone can get the train, if they are confident enough to do so, without needing help. It would be marvellous if one day there are push buttons or visual awareness cameras to extend access equipment for at least one carriage on each train. There could be a designated place to wait on the platform, as there is now for manual assistance.
Looking at the way we work, we should be celebrating diversity and remind ourselves of the important role every single one of us has to play within the organisation. We should acknowledge that where some people may not excel in some parts, they may shine in others; or bring a new perspective to the table.
As disabled people, we have to find ways to work around barriers every day, which can have its advantages. For example, part of my role at RDG focuses on reviewing standards. I don’t tend to be too confident about the technical aspect, but by focusing on and querying the detail more than others would as a result of being dyslexic, I ensure standards are correct before these are published.
Having the International Day of People with Disabilities to celebrate our differences and bring them to the forefront of people’s minds is a wonderful thing to do. Times are moving on and we need to move with them, be innovative and take advantage of people’s differing views and wide-ranging skillsets to lead by example and in our ambition for a railway that is easy to access and inclusive to all.
Our other IDPwD blogs
Amplifying voices on the International Day of People with Disabilities
by Jacqueline Starr, CEO, Rail Delivery Group
This year’s theme for the International Day of People with Disabilities is “Fighting for rights in the post-Covid era”.
Over the past two years, in some ways, disabled people have experienced greater inclusion- through changes such as working from home, online performances of arts and Zoom events – bringing us all together.
At the same time, the term “clinically vulnerable” appeared when talking about disabled people, when it should really be “clinically susceptible”. During Covid, we began to call disabled people “vulnerable”, implying that we are protecting them from possible harm, wrapping them up in cotton wool in a patronising way when it’s actually the environment and attitudes that are disabling the community once again. This simply should not be happening, and – in some respects - it feels a step back to the past.
The rail industry is proud that passenger assistance continued throughout the pandemic for key workers who required it, providing them with a vital service to getting them to work, or when restrictions lifted, to seeing family and friends again. I’m pleased that frontline colleagues recognised that disabled people played their part as the cohort of key workers.
We promoted the Sunflower lanyard scheme nationwide as an option for customers – many of whom had an ‘invisible’ disability – to discretely indicate when they might need assistance. We also continued our disability equality training for frontline staff, improving their understanding of how they can better support customers who need assistance when travelling by train.
In May, we launched the Passenger Assistance app, which makes it easier and quicker for disabled customers to request assistance for their train journeys.
Looking ahead to April 2022, the six-hour booking notice to request assistance will be reduced to two hours - although we’ll always aim to provide support, whether it’s requested a week in advance or if a customer turns up on the day. It’s a further step to making the railway more accessible.
The work continues on putting the recommendations of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail into action, including creating a whole industry accessibility strategy for disabled people – because despite the improvements, there is still much more we can do.
Work to make this strategy as good as it can be is underway. We’re speaking to colleagues from across the industry and engaging with our disabled customers to better understand their needs, so that we can deliver real improvements that will support our vision of an inclusive and easy to use railway.
On the International Day of People with Disabilities, I’d encourage you to listen to the voices of people with disabilities, celebrate their successes over the past 12 months and be an ally as they fight for equality – something which many of us take for granted.
Today, Chris Jeffery, Accessibility Co-ordinator at TransPennine Express, and Joanne Tick, who works within RDG’s Accreditation team and is a member of the Disability Awareness Network, reflect on their own experiences and their hopes for a better and more inclusive railway in their own blog posts. I hope you will find these as insightful as I did in informing the ways in which we can deliver for all our customers.
Only by including, listening and acting can we keep making change in our world. Above all, disabled people will tell you and I: “Nothing About Us, Without Us.”
Our other IDPwD blogs
Decarbonising rail: creating jobs for the ‘Green Industrial Revolution’
By Andy Bagnall, Director General at the Rail Delivery Group
In 2021, there is an overwhelming acceptance that the human impact on the planet is directly affecting global climates. With extreme weather events seemingly part of daily news cycles and weather records consistently being broken, the importance of transitioning to a low-carbon economy has never been clearer.
People and goods are moving farther and faster than at any time in history, but with that movement comes a significant environmental cost. The transport industry now represents the highest carbon emitting sector in Britain. With the planet facing a climate emergency, the Government is looking for solutions to what, at times, can feel like an impossible task.
The good news is that there is still time to affect positive change. Not just in a way that is good for the planet, but one that is also positive for our country’s economy, by harnessing rail’s green credentials and making the best use of Britain’s innovation and technologies.
Rail is in the unique position of not only being low carbon now, but also being the only transport mode with a credible plan for moving both people and heavy goods in a truly zero-carbon way. As an industry we want to go further to decarbonise by applying technologies such as hydrogen and battery to the network, as well as more traditional electrification, with power coming from renewables. Building on the railway’s proud history as part of Britain’s industrial past, we want to unlock new, high skilled jobs for the green industrial revolution of the future.
That is why we have today launched our latest report pdf Catalysing a green recovery: creating jobs by building Britain’s net zero railway (1021 KB) , establishing what a programme of investment to decarbonise the nation’s railway could achieve. The report shows that, far from being simply a cost to be borne, decarbonising the rail network is a once-in-a-generational opportunity that will see jobs created across every region of the UK, so that men and women from a diverse range of backgrounds can prosper, whilst cutting edge skills and innovations are exported globally.
Analysis suggests that this programme could support an average of 6,000 jobs per year between 2024 and 2050. These are jobs both in directly delivering the work, through the roll out of electrification and assembly of rolling stock and also in the supply chain through manufacturing of components and procurement of renewable energy.
Regional estimates contained within the report suggest that over 90% of these employment opportunities would be outside London and the South East. While the electrification needed across Scotland and the South West of England would provide opportunities there in infrastructure construction, the substantial levels of activity developing hydrogen and battery technology would provide further long-term employment for STEM professionals across the East Midlands and the North. In doing so, a programme of rail decarbonisation has the potential to drive further inward investment in these areas, helping contribute positively to the Government’s ‘levelling-up’ commitments.
There are wider benefits beyond the rail network too. With an emphasis on the use of alternative power sources where electrification is not practical or economical, the rail industry could become an early ‘anchor’ customer for the hydrogen and battery sectors, with increased consumption from rail having the potential to kickstart these emerging markets.
Additionally, the rail industry’s ambitious aim of sourcing all electricity from renewables (such as wind and solar) by the mid-2030s represents an opportunity to create real economies of scale, in turn helping reduce costs for the wider roll out of these technologies. According to the research, carbon emission reductions over the period 2024 to 2050 is worth £5.8 billion to the UK.
As world leaders and delegations from across the globe descend on Glasgow for COP26, all eyes will be on the UK and its presidency of the conference. Now is the time to be bold and show that Britain is serious about fighting climate change.
Rail, as the greenest mode for transporting people and goods over long distances, is uniquely positioned to help build back better, greener, and quicker, after the pandemic. The decarbonisation of this vital service is also cheaper than other transport sectors and is essential to maintaining connectivity in the UK and Europe, in a world where we need to move rapidly towards net zero.
To make this a reality, we’re calling on Government to commit the funding for a long-term programme of electrification, alongside investing in hydrogen and battery technologies. It’s an investment not just for the railway, or for the planet, but for British jobs and enterprise too. We believe that with the right investment now, rail can be the backbone of our future decarbonised transport network, delivering opportunity and unlocking the reduction in transport emissions needed to limit global warming.
Why celebrating the World Cup of Stations matters
And so, the third edition of the World Cup of Stations tournament has come to a close and Stourbridge Junction was crowned the champion, winning the public vote as the nation’s favourite.
Our annual competition is light-hearted, a bit of fun. Yet people up and down the country showed how serious they were at the Twitter polls, wanting their favourite station to claim the 2021 title.
A total of 80,000 votes were cast throughout the week-long competition demonstrating the groundswell of support for all stations and rail staff across the country. It is testament to the crucial role they play in their areas and how they are supporting local communities and businesses to bounce back from the pandemic.
This year’s tournament had a different approach to the previous two. The competition focussed on stations that play a vital role in supporting their local economy to recover from the pandemic by getting people back doing the things they love whether it’s going on holiday, visiting museums and galleries or dining out.
Last month, we published the More than a journey report that showed the important role of a thriving railway. Whether for commuting or leisure travel, analysis showed that rail passengers spend £133 billion a year on things like shops, restaurants and hotels. Taking the train is also a green way to travel, cutting carbon emissions and reducing congestion. That’s why we want to encourage people back on board – not for the sake of the railway itself but for the environment and to help local businesses and communities recover.
Rail is steadily welcoming back more and more passengers . Leisure journeys, where people spend £117 on average with local businesses, have returned to near pre-pandemic levels. The summer kick started it all as we saw a huge uplift as restrictions eased, with staycationers, daytrippers and shoppers making the most of stress-free travel to arrive at their destinations.
Commuter rail journeys are also steadily increasing with workers going back to their offices, many now taking advantage of the Flexi Season tickets to meet their new hybrid pattern of working.
Like any tournament, there can only be one winner so hats off to Stourbridge Junction for beating off stiff competition. But this year’s World Cup of Stations is really a celebration of every station and all the people who work in them – they are playing a vital role in ensuring local communities stay connected and bounce back from the pandemic.