Criticism of disability transport body misplaced

28th April 2006

In response to the criticism of the withdrawal of the Juniper fleet on South West Trains announced today, Will Bee, Director of Transport Policy at the Disability Rights Commission said:

“There are real safety issues for commuters with a visual impairment if they don’t have access to essential information.

“Regulations have been in force and South West Trains have committed significant sums to make their trains better for a wide range of disabled people. What is shameful is that the train leasing companies are hiring out non-compliant trains which cause the headaches for the train operators. Such disregard for health and safety of disabled people would not be tolerated in any other sector.”