ACCESSIBLE TRAINS

That this House notes that in order for all passengers to be able to turn up and go at railway stations and on train services, stations must be adequately staffed and there should always be a second safety critical member of staff on a train; further notes that train guards currently provide a safety critical role, which gives a guarantee of a second person on a train to provide assistance to passengers who require it; notes that failure to provide the requisite staff to enable turn up and go travel should be considered a breach of train and station operators' safety and accessibility duties; is concerned that the Railway Safety and Standards Board warned in its 2015 report that under Driver Only Operation (DOO) passengers would face greater requirements to book in advance, possibly facing additional travel restrictions, which would represent a move away from the current goal of making the railway more accessible for all; believes that the proposal to remove a second safety critical member of staff on Southern Rail services would be detrimental to access especially at unstaffed stations; calls on the Government and Southern Rail to ensure passengers retain this guarantee at all times; and further calls on the Government to undertake an equality impact assessment of DOO, if it has not yet done so, and to publish this and any other relevant work it has carried out.