Tactile Paving on Railway Platforms; Heading Home from University for Christmas

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IN TOUCH – Tactile Paving and Heading Home for Christmas from University

TX: 01.12.2020 2040-2100

PRESENTER: PETER WHITE

PRODUCER: MIKE YOUNG

White

Good evening. Tonight, as university students across the UK prepare to head home for Christmas, we hear from two first years who are visually impaired. How has their first term worked out during a pandemic?

Clip

Not only do you have to adjust to this new time, this very scary environment, certainly very different to what most people have been used to but you’ve got the academic pressures as well.

White

But first, tactile paving that runs along the edges of the UK’s railway platforms started being installed 30 years ago. It was designed to make it very clear to a blind or visually impaired rail user exactly where the edge of the platform was. But it’s emerged that more than one-third of the total length of the UK’s rail platforms are still without it. This comes after a Freedom of Information request following a fatal accident in February involving a visually impaired man falling on to the tracks at Eden Park Station in Southeast London. Well we’ll hear more about that in a moment but first, let’s get an idea of how vital tactile paving at railway stations can be.

Roy Turnham from Hull travels frequently but he has to cope with Hull station not having tactile paving on its platform edges.

Roy, you’re registered blind and you use a guide dog, just explain what difference tactile paving makes to you as a rail user.

Turnham

I travel regularly and quite often I’ve got a lot of luggage with me. I’ve got the guide dog in one hand, I’ve generally got a wheelie case, probably another bag on my back – I’m a bit of a packhorse most of the time…

White

So am I.

Turnham

Well the thing is, is what the tactile paving does for me – my guide dog she’s very good, very well trained, she’ll stop in front of the doors but when you’ve got no hands free, you’re also trying to judge where the step up is exactly, the tactile paving just gives you that extra cue to where you need to be getting ready to step from. Also, when you’re on island platforms, the platforms are very busy, sometimes the dog will have to navigate around people and having that cue of knowing where the edges are or when you’re relatively close to the edges is very useful.

White

Would it be even more relevant, it would wouldn’t it, if you used a cane?

Turnham

I think it would, yes. In fact, I work for a local sight loss charity in Hull called Sight Support Hull and East Yorkshire and just recently, actually, one of my service users, who’s a cane user, she was advised not to use her local station – so she lives in North Ferriby which is, it’s a little bit out of Hull – and it was the most convenient way for her to come in to Hull to access the activities that we run. But North Ferriby doesn’t have any tactile paving and her mobility officer was too concerned about her safety for her to use that station.

White

And presumably, this is the problem, if you’ve got it on some and not on others, it raises an expectation that may not be justified.

Turnham

Absolutely, yeah, because you’re expecting to find the tactile before you step and if you don’t you risk getting too close to the edge of the platform.

White

Well Roy Turnham, thank you very much indeed for that.

Caroline Pidgeon joins us again on the programme. Now she is a Lib Dem member of the London Assembly with a particular interest in transport and her team put in this Freedom of Information request to find out how many of the UK’s railway platforms remain without tactile paving.

Caroline, explain exactly what your FOI request found.

Pidgeon

Well Peter, after the terrible accident at Eden Park Station where a man lost his life, I was very concerned to learn how this is replicated across the country, how many platforms didn’t have tactile paving. And so, we put in a Freedom of Information request and we were shocked to find that 35% of the length of platforms across England, Wales and Scotland do not have tactile paving. And we’ve just heard from Roy, how important it is to help you make the right decision where there’s a critical edge, the edge of a platform, or whether it’s a staircase or so on, it’s so important for blind and visually impaired passengers and yet there is no date for when the government will ensure that every platform has tactile paving at the edge. And I just think it’s wrong and it’s dangerous. And the case we had back in February just shows that.

White

Now we’re still waiting for the official report into what actually happened there, we do know, as you say, a man fell on to the tracks and was hit by a train and Eden Park’s platform didn’t have a tactile surface, did it?

Pidgeon

That’s right and the Rail Accident Investigation Bureau drew attention to this as they started their investigation in April and we’re waiting for their report, which I am sure will be out in months if not days. But the idea that government doesn’t have any target for Network Rail to do tactile paving across every platform I think is shocking. And the issue as well is that it’s not just a few small stations that don’t perhaps have as many passengers, major stations like Charing Cross have no tactile paving. Some stations have some of their platforms with it and some without – that cannot be right because it doesn’t help people make an informed choice and to be able to travel safely on the network.

White

And of course, island platforms are particularly risky where they’re open both sides, and Roy mentioned one of those.

Pidgeon

Absolutely and this has been allowed to drag on, years and years, after we’ve had legislation to make sure that people with disabilities are able to travel around on public transport. And I understand, for example, putting lifts in at stations is really, really costly and complicated, I don’t see that putting in tactile paving on every platform edge is anything like that scale. And actually, it’s a fundamental basic right, I think, to have that on platforms.

White

Now you mentioned the accident, you put your FOI into Network Rail, which owns and manages much of the railway network in Great Britain, now they’ve sent us a statement and they say: “Tactile paving is installed on platforms as standard when platform work is undertaken, also at newly built stations and those which are part of the access for all programme.” They say: “Most our railway was built more than a hundred years ago in the Victorian era and with more than 2,500 stations on our network today, there’s much work to do to make the rail network fully accessible. We’re working closely with our industry partners to achieve this wherever possible.” What do you say to that Caroline? I mean they were built in the Victorian era of course.

Pidgeon

Of course, they were but all of our stations wouldn’t have fire safety systems and so on when they were originally built, they do now. I just think it’s really important to actually set a target and to work towards that to make sure that within a few years every single platform has tactile paving along its edge. I don’t see that there should be any problem with that. And the government says they envisage equal access for disabled people using the transport system. Well if you envisage that then you’ve got to do something about that and that means installing this right across the network and setting targets for Network Rail to deliver it.

White

Caroline Pidgeon, Roy Turnham, thank you both very much indeed. We’ll keep a – certainly an ear on that – and next week we’ll look further at the issue of accessibility in our town and city centres – do tell us where you think things are being done well there or not so well when it comes to getting around safely.

And thanks for all your emails, which we take very seriously. For example, last week we read out Alex Galbraith’s suggestion that because so many people seem nervous about guiding blind people in the present pandemic, because of the perceived risk of infection, what about, he said, putting people registered with a visual impairment near to the top of the priority list for vaccination against coronavirus? Well, the current recommendations put people in care homes at the top of the priority list and then vaccination based on age – oldest first.

Well, it’s the joint committee for Vaccination and Immunisation which advises the government on this so we put Alex’s point straight to them. They replied: “As we do not yet know if the vaccine will prevent transmission, vaccination of individuals who need to be accompanied by other people hasn’t been considered at this stage.” So, it looks as if we’re going to need more evidence before that idea gets a hearing.

Now, back in September we dedicated a whole programme to the challenges facing blind and partially sighted students as they headed for university during the pandemic. Well, now that first term is coming to an end, it’s been quite eventful and now an evacuation style plan is aiming to get students home safely for Christmas. There are narrow travel windows to minimise the risk of spreading the virus, many students are also being offered rapid result tests before heading home. Any remaining teaching moves entirely online from later this week.

But has the first term been worthwhile in spite of all the restrictions? Harrison Kesey [phon.] from Worcester is blind, he’s been studying French and German at Swansea University and Jimmy Bryden from the Isle of Man has some sight, he’s been studying maths at the University of Birmginahm.

Jimmy, when we last with you at the beginning of the term, there were some mobility issues for you I remember, when did you finally get to know your way around and how did that resolve itself?

Bryden

It was – I think it might have been a couple of weeks after we spoke, I got my mobility training sorted, just took ages to get going.

White

Because, you know, university set ups are notoriously complicated, what were the difficult bits?

Bryden

We’ve got – it’s like a crossroads at University of Birmingham campus but it’s all – it’s like shared surfaces on these sites as well and all their maintenance vehicles are electric vans, so it’s like a Mario game or something.

White

And what about going into the city itself because you live on the Isle of Man and I pointed out at the time a bit of a contrast, so what about the city and finding your way around?

Bryden

My route to the shops and stuff actually are actually really close but I haven’t actually been in to the main city yet because of all the coronavirus and not being much to actually do there.

White

Right, so you’re saving that for later?

Bryden

Yeah, yeah.

White

And domestically you’ve been in a flat for four people I think, so how have you all coped with lockdown, you in particular?

Bryden

A few people have gone home, so, it’s actually – we’re reduced numbers now but everyone’s a bit stir crazy but alright, yeah.

White

Why did people – what were their reasons for going home?

Bryden

I think they just lived really close by and so just – when the lockdown happened just went I’m going to just go home instead.

White

Let me bring in Harrison. You’ve been sharing with more people, I think it’s an eight-person flat, just explain how has that worked out, how has the social side been for you?

Kesey

I’ve been amazed at how well it’s all worked out. It can be a very nervous time but I think we all [indistinct words] splendidly well. It’s made certain times, particularly when there have been outbreaks, a whole lot more bearable.

White

Because there was a spike in cases of covid, wasn’t there, in Swansea, really early on and a group of Swansea students, I think, were suspended following serious breaches of Covid-19, the regulations. What are the limits on social interaction?

Kesey

Obviously, you come into this sort of experience – as this has been going on for a considerable amount of time – you almost expect this to happen at some point, you will have to isolate. And when it did happen, obviously, it was lonely at times and it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that I couldn’t step outside of my accommodation for around 10 days.

White

You see I remember this, I did it a long, long time ago, but it’s very similar – like you I’m totally blind – and what struck me was I wondered whether having restrictions early on it might kind of give you almost an excuse not to go out and that might be quite a dangerous thing to happen.

Kesey

Definitely, I would agree with what you’re saying and I think it gets tougher as the term progresses. Not only do you have to adjust to this new at times very scary environment, certainly very different to what most people have been used to, but you’ve got the academic pressures as well, which certainly ramps up as the terms wears on. I still think I’ve got a lot more contacts to make. I’m lucky in that I get on so well with the people I live with. I also have to remember there are people on my course, there are people from the wider university that I still haven’t come across.

White

Let’s remember what you’re actually there for, which is to work and to get academic qualifications. I’ll stay with you Harrison. What about the studying and the lectures, what’s been the proportion of face-to-face to online?

Kesey

So, currently all my teaching takes place online. I mainly use Zoom for lectures. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the foreign languages team, they’ve supported me throughout this time, especially the transcription department and how they’ve adapted materials into the correct format – it’s all worked out very well, I really couldn’t have asked for a better start academically. At this time, obviously, I’ve not had to – I haven’t needed to use a lot of routes to my lecture halls, it really is only a matter of time, I would think, until we are able to access those and use those once again.

White

And Jimmy, what about you, you were just getting to grips with this when we talked to you last, how has that worked out with your maths?

Bryden

My lectures are pre-recorded, so I can watch them back whenever I want to and then I just go to Zoom calls, like problem solving classes that are Zoom calls, we can have some interaction with the lecturer in.

White

So, have you had any doubts, because again we discussed if it was all going to be online why be at university, you’ve got all the other problems, you’ve got all the mobility problems we’ve talked about, you could do it from home, has that ever struck you as the term has gone on?

Bryden

I was seriously considering when the lockdown and stuff happened going home and just working from home but I get on really well with my flatmates and stuff, so I’ve actually been having a great time here. Working wise, you still have interaction with your lecturers and stuff, because that was the bit that I was worried about was not being able to ask questions very easily and just basically just watching videos on the internet but they’ve set up virtual lecturers’ hours and stuff, so you can go to those and actually talk to the people who are lecturing and there is communication between the students and the lecturers and stuff.

White

Let’s just talk to you finally about heading home, because this has been an issue, it’s not just visually impaired students, a lot of people have wondered how this is going to work. Jimmy, I think you’re planning on heading home to the Isle of Man later this week, how will you go about that because I guess it’s quite a complicated journey?

Bryden

It is. I’ve got a train up to Heysham in Lancaster and then I’ve got to get a boat across to the island and then isolate for two weeks away from my family on the island because they’ve got very strict covid rules now.

White

So, you’ll have to isolate anyway, whether you have a test or not, because they are being offered to students?

Bryden

Yeah, that’s right, yeah.

White

It’s not much longer than a fortnight, is it, won’t you be isolated most of the holiday?

Bryden

Basically yeah. I’ll be able to sit down and do my exams without being disturbed at all or distracted.

White

No feelings about not coming back for the second term?

Bryden

No, I’d like to come back for the second term yeah.

White

And Harrison, what about you?

Kesey

Yeah, similarly to Birmingham, Swansea is hoping to roll out its own mass testing programme. I’m confident in stating that I think I would be able to travel home between the 3rd and the 9th December and I very much hope to be able to travel within that window.

White

Will you be travelling alone?

Kesey

My family will come and collect me from the university. It’s about three hour – three hours distance.

White

So, you’re going to be spoilt basically?

Kesey

Yeah, I will be yeah.

White

Look thank you both very much for joining us and good luck with your second term.

Kesey

Thank you Peter, it’s been a pleasure, thank you.

Bryden

Thank you very much.

White

Harrison Kesey and Jimmy Bryden there.

And just before we go, we’ve got a couple of emails about the difficulty of voting, which we’ve been wanting to fit in for weeks. Gail Guest in Leyland Lancashire emailed. She said: “I’m now 69 years old and I’ve voted in every national election and lots of local ones since I was 18. Polling station staff just don’t know how to cope with a blind person and have no idea how to place a voting template etc., so I’ve now started having postal votes. I really can’t understand why with all the technology we have now…” Gail says, “… we can’t vote electronically or on the phone.”

And on the same thing. Andrew Walker says: “I don’t consider that an additional audio device…” which you may recall was what was being suggested. “…in conjunction with the tactile aid, used in the past, to be a practical way of voting. This sounds to me to be a sticking plaster remedy. There remain the difficulties of using the tactile device and that a pen has to be used to make a mark on the paper which people of a certain age may remember would be rather like sticking a pin on a football pools coupon to find the fixtures.”

And that’s all for this week. Remember you can always email us [email protected] and you can find all sorts of useful information and listen again to this and other editions of the programme via our website bbc.co.uk/intouch. That’s it, from me Peter White, my producer Mike Young and studio manager John Cole. Goodbye.