mobility scooter permits<\/a> with Northern are being contacted and told they can travel on Class 158 trains if their scooters meet the size requirements. <\/p>\nThey will be provided with a new permit which states the model can be used to safely board these trains and will not become stuck on board. <\/p>\n
There is no change to the rules that allow mobility scooters on all of the other types of trains in the operator\u2019s fleet. <\/p>\n
When Northern\u2019s policy was introduced in 2020, the vast majority of scooters were too large to turn in the narrow vestibules of the Class 158s and there were concerns they could become stuck.<\/p>\n
But with a growing number of customers now travelling on smaller, lighter models, Northern agreed to review this policy.<\/p>\n
After consulting passengers and staff, conducting further testing with various models and reassessing more than 150 stations, the operator has decided to update the rules and allow passengers with suitable mobility scooters to board Class 158 trains.<\/p>\n
Alex Hornby, Customer and Commercial Director at Northern, said: \u201cWe are determined to create an accessible railway for everyone and continue to make further improvements for our customers across Northern.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith more people using smaller scooters, we decided it was time to review the rules and find a new way forward to enable more passengers with mobility scooters to safely board more services. <\/p>\n
“I would like to thank Janet Kidd, Tony Jennings and Sue Buckingham, as well as Shopmobility Leeds for their support in making this happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re committed to giving everyone the confidence to travel by train and have a conductor on board every service to provide assistance.<\/p>\n
“We will continue to create further improvements and it is really pleasing to see satisfaction levels amongst customers with accessibility needs continue to increase.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 3,000 passengers, using around 330 types of mobility scooters, have already obtained a free permits from Northern. They can travel from 262 stations across the Northern network. <\/p>\n
It comes as Northern is planning to make the largest ever investment in its fleet, by purchasing up to 450 trains in three phases. That will include around 130 trains in the first phase.<\/p>\n
The publicly-owned operator is aiming to award the contracts by early 2027 and have the first trains delivered in 2030.<\/p>\n
Northern is focused on improving level boarding, by ensuring the new train carriages meet requirements at platforms that conform to the network standard.<\/p>\n
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,650 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.<\/p>\n
Image credit: Northern<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It comes after the train operator updated its rules to allow smaller mobility scooters on Class 158 trains.\u00a0 Passengers who currently have\u00a0mobility scooter permits\u00a0with Northern are being contacted and told they can travel on Class 158 trains if their scooters meet the size requirements.\u00a0 They will be provided with a new permit which states the [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[146,16013,8221,47,16016,913,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-541129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accessibility","category-general-interest","category-people","category-rail-news","category-train-operating-companies","category-travel","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t