Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted in Part
Publish full station accessibility audit information and an open data register of key assets.
Recommendation
Station accessibility audit information must be published in full within two months of this report to permit independent scrutiny of progress, the resources required and any decisions made to rule out works at particular locations. In its Inclusive Transport Strategy, the Department should commit to compiling and publishing in open data format a register of key accessibility assets on the rail and bus network which can be drawn upon by journey planning tools. (Recommendation, Paragraph 61)
Government Response Summary
The government states that rail station accessibility audit data is already available on the Rail Data Marketplace. For bus and rail accessibility assets, the Department is undertaking discovery work to capture this data within NaPTAN for future journey planning tools.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
55. The Department agrees that there is significant merit in making data available to help improve accessibility and journey planning. The Department undertook a comprehensive accessibility audit of rail station facilities between April 2021 to April 2023. The data is currently available on the Rail Data Marketplace and is being maintained by the rail industry. The data has also been used to update the National Rail Enquiries website with a more substantial redesign of the website’s station information pages underway [and due to be delivered by this summer]. 56. The Department is undertaking discovery work to capture bus and rail accessibility assets within the National Public Transport Access Nodes (NaPTAN) which is a national dataset of all public transport ‘stops’ in England, Scotland and Wales. This discovery work is the starting point for accessibility journey planning. Rail accessibility assets are being prioritised in terms of rail replacement stops to align with the expiration of coach operator exemptions from the Accessible Information Regulations which will expire on the 31 July 2026. The project is also piloting a new methodology for collating data on bus stop accessibility across the country drawing on AI technology.