- Conference
- 2017 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 12 October 2016
- Decision
- Carried
Conference picture this, a female wheelchair user gets on a train at a station and has assistance to enter the train. Platform staff get the ramps and the woman disabled customer is helped onto the train.
The train has only a driver and no conductor. Then when getting to the station to get off the train, due to everything now being automated, ticket machine and no staff, who is there to help the disabled woman off the train?
The answer no one.
So the choice is to have a couple of steps down off the train to launch yourself and your wheelchair down to get off the train by yourself,
Or
Don’t travel. This may mean that employment is not possible as you can’t travel to and from a place of work.
Public transport is really important to everyone as is safe and accessible travel. This scenario also applies to tube travel as well as trains. A possible solution may be to have a conductor on every train or tube to ensure safety and access to the carriage is possible.
It may also mean that a staffed ticket office is needed so that women with a visual impairment, deaf women and women with other disabilities who are not able to use a ticket machine will not be excluded from public travel.
Conference we need to make our voice heard and work to curb the cuts to safety and accessibility on trains, tubes and other forms of public transport.
In addition, the duties of train guards and station staff include ensuring that passengers are kept safe. When stations are left unstaffed, disabled women and deaf women are placed in a more vulnerable situation as attacks on women and disability hate crime are increasing.
Since the UK voted to leave the European Union there has been a marked increase in race and gender discrimination, hate crime and violence against women in public places is being reported too often. This highlights the need for safe and accessible travel for women.
Conference calls on the National Women’s Committee to work with TUC disabled workers committee, STUC Women’s Committee, STUC Disabled Workers Committee, UNISON’s Self Organised Committees, WTUC Women’s Committee, Labour Link and other relevant bodies to raise these issues and campaign to secure accessible and safe train and tube transport for disabled women.