A special project will begin next year to build the confidence of people with special educational needs and disabilities in using public transport.
Education officers from Southeast Communities Rail Partnership (SCRP) will work with bus and train companies to design and deliver workshops on planning a journey. These will be followed with activities to try trips by bus and train.
SCRP has already carried out a pilot project with Reading Buses and will now expand that across the South East.
The partnership plans to involve more than 400 participants across all its 10 Community Rail lines over the next two years. It is already in discussions with bus and train companies covering East and West Sussex, Kent, Berkshire, Surrey and south-west London.
The scheme is being funded by the Motability Foundation which works towards making transport more accessible and is co-ordinated by Community Rail Network. SCRP is one of four delivery partners chosen by CRN.
Grant money from Motability will pay for SCRP staff to establish and deliver the programme as well as cover the cost of train and bus tickets. The project runs from January 2025 to December 2026.
Fiona Morton, chief executive officer of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership Community Interest Company, said: “We are proud to support this important initiative to build confidence in rail travel. At some point, we will all need that little bit of extra help to travel independently and safely, and this project will use insights from groups of disabled people to improve accessibility for us all.”
Lisa Jones, Motability Foundation’s director of charitable operations, commented: “We’re delighted to award Community Rail Network with this grant to work with community rail partnerships and create a travel training programme to support disabled people use trains and buses confidently.
“Community Rail Network, together with its partners, will gather insights from disabled people’s experiences and offer travel awareness training, supporting disabled people to travel independently and confidently.
“Awarding grants to important organisations like Community Rail Network helps us to make an immediate difference to the transport needs of disabled people.”
Jools Townsend, chief executive of Community Rail Network, added: “We’re thrilled to be getting this important programme under way, at a crucial time as the railway embarks on a period of major transformation.
“We know from our members’ experiences working with the disabled community, and people in diverse circumstances, that too many people feel excluded from our railway. But we also see up-close the incredible benefits that can be unlocked through meaningful engagement, building travel awareness, skills and confidence, and, crucially, drawing on disabled people’s expertise by experience, to affect wider change.
“Enabling people who previously felt unable to use rail to start accessing the opportunities it can open up – training, employment, leisure and social opportunities – can be life-changing. Ultimately, we’re working towards a truly inclusive railway, and all disabled people being able to travel with confidence.”
Photo credit: Severnside Community Rail Partnership
