Glasgow Protest - Safer Scottish Trains

Campaign for

SAFER

SCOTTISH TR AIN S FOR PASSENGERS FOR SCOTLAND

SAFER SCOTTISH TRAINS Glasgow

FOR ACCESSIBLE AND SAFE SCOTTISH TRAINS The Scottish Government are clear that they “believe in the absolute rights of disabled people to live a life of equal opportunities like any other citizen”.

The Scottish Government “know that accessible travel can enable people to enjoy equal access to full citizenship” and agree “it is in everyone’s interest to identify and remove disabling barriers which prevent people travelling, or serve to make their journey an unpleasant experience”.

How can we when?

214

train stations in Scotland are currently completely unstaffed

7,000

trains per year with no second member of staff on board

We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment but we believe there is still much more to do before this vision becomes reality and Scottish trains are truly fully accessible and safe for all.

Parliamentary answers in 2016 revealed that 214 of Scotrail’s 346 stations are unstaffed and even though the Minister for Transport Humza Yousaf said on the 21/07/16 “We recognise the critical importance of good staff for ScotRail services both at stations and on trains” over 30,000 trains currently run as Driver Only Operated trains and nearly two thirds of stations have no staff available at all.

RMT also produced figures in July 2016 to show that the annual number of ScotRail services that went into service from April 2015 onwards, without a second member of staff on board when there should have been one present, was running at anything from 5,700 to 7,300 a year.

Consistently RMT has asked the question “what happens to a disabled person trying to access/exit a train, at an unstaffed station with only the driver on board?”

In order for disabled people to travel in line with the Scottish Government’s own vision RMT

General Secretary Mick Cash asks: “How can disabled people in Scotland really travel unobstructed if the support and staff necessary to access rail travel services are not available? Will they even want to try and attempt a journey if there is no guarantee of being able to get on off the train?”

Linda Kaze from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) Scotland agrees: “After 30 years of commitment, effort and public expenditure to ensure that disabled people can travel on trains as safely and securely as by other modes of transport with confidence, we now risk rolling back all that progress and effectively deny disabled people those hard won rights. That is simply unacceptable.”

“

Our vision All disabled people can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens Scotland’s Accessible Transport Framework 2016

DPAC Glasgow supports the key demands of the RMT’s Campaign for Safer Scottish Trains are: • • • •

• •

”

Safe, secure and fully accessible trains for all but especially for those passengers with disabilities or mobility impairments.

We need to make sure our stations are welcoming, safe and secure with staff available to help those who need assistance.

Trains should be staffed by safety qualified, operationally trained guards (conductors.)

That for passenger safety and the safe despatch of trains – guards should control the train doors – making sure trains are safe to start – drivers should concentrate on driving the train.

There must be an urgent review of safety and service quality of existing Driver Only Operated trains.

For safer trains we need safe tracks. There should be no cuts to infrastructure, track workers or rail operation staff.

What you can do: • •

Contact your MSP and let them know you want safe and secure trains for all.

Contact ScotRail Customer Services on 0344 811 0141 and let them know you want properly staffed trains and stations. dpacglasgow@yahoo.com Facebook: DPACGlasgow Twitter: @DpacG

Regional Office 180 Hope Street Glasgow G2 2UE Telephone 0141 332 1117

Glasgow