One of the first meetings I had in Brentwood, even before I was elected as Member of Parliament in 2017, was with Jim Hoare, of the Brentwood Access Group, about the need for a lift on Platform 4 at Brentwood Station to allow those with disabilities to access London bound trains without having to do a 500metre obstacle course to get to the platform.
Since 2017 I have worked with Jim to bring the lack of step-free access at Brentwood to London bound Elizabeth Line trains to the attention of Network Rail, TfL, MTL Crossrail and Ministers at the Department of Transport. And despite no success so far, the fight goes on and I am due to go another round with Transport Ministers.
However, the arrival of the ill-thought out ULEZ expansion by the Mayor of London has made the need for a lift at Brentwood Station even more pressing. Brentwood Access Group has now launched a petition calling for the Mayor of London (via TfL) and Network Rail to finally pay to make Brentwood Station step free and accessible to the less mobile passenger by installing a lift from Platform 4 to the main concourse, ticket office and the link to the lift to Platform 3 London bound.
You can find the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/play-fair-mr-mayor-make-brentwood-rail-station-accessible-don-t-quibble?
I’ve signed it and I’ll be bringing the petition to the attention of Ministers to show the strength of feeling in Brentwood for the lift so would encourage anyone in Brentwood who finds using the station difficult as a result of disabilities, limited mobility, or having young children in a pram to sign too.
Greater Anglia are also running a consultation at the moment about changes to ticket offices and staffing at Shenfield and Ingatestone stations. The plan is to close the ticket offices and put more staff out on the station concourse to offer help to passengers. However, staffing at Ingatestone could be reduced to mornings only, and my constituents have raised concerns about accessibility and safety, especially for lone passengers and the many school children from Anglo European School who use the station.
Anyone can contribute to the consultation by contacting either Transport Focus or, where appropriate, London TravelWatch, about the proposals for their station. Details of which statutory rail watchdog to contact for each individual station can also be found on the Greater Anglia website (www.greateranglia.co.uk/consult). The consultation period has been extended so submissions must be made by the end of Friday 1st September 2023.
The same applies to C2C services, which include West Horndon Station in this constituency. C2C says the way their customers buy their tickets has fundamentally changed and they need to ensure that the railway offers an experience which reflects this and caters to current needs and usage. However, they make it clear the proposed reforms will not affect the ability to provide assistance to those needing wheelchair and mobility support, either on demand at the station or by booking in advance.
C2C is keen to hear from customers and stakeholders and the C2C consultation can be found here: www.c2c-online.co.uk/consultation
