Meet our Integrated Travel and Accessibility Manager (Interim), Peter, as he talks more about accessibility at West Midlands Railway.
Accessibility is extremely important here at West Midlands Railway and in honour of this year’s Purple Tuesday we were keen to spark conversation and spread awareness on why being an accessible business is so important, as well as highlighting what we have been doing to ensure accessibility is at the heart of everything we do.
What is Purple Tuesday?
Purple Tuesday is a national day that takes place every year which looks to improve the customer experience for disabled people 365 days a year.
Representing West Midlands Railway is our Integrated Travel and Accessibility Manager (Interim), Pete Williamson, who caught up with us to talk all things accessibility – sharing why accessibility is so important and what we have in store.
Get to know about Pete's career
“I kicked off my career in accessibility back in 2010 in the aviation industry. I kind of fell into the role as it sounded like something of great importance that would be incredibly rewarding. Following the outbreak of Covid-19, I moved over to the rail industry starting a similar job at a different company – it wasn’t until May 2021 that I kicked off my journey at West Midlands Railway.
“Accessibility is definitely where I see myself sitting best. My speciality is customer service so when I think what is best for myself as well as the people I am serving, accessibility and inclusivity are definitely up there.”
“To summarise my role, I make sure the business is as inclusive as possible under the equality act. However, my typical day to day would be responding to any industry changes and obligations that the government ask of us.
What have West Midlands Railway done to improve accessibility recently?
“As a business, we make sure we represent the customers’ needs when we are talking to our government partners, we also offer a training program to all employees called Accessibility Matters – which currently 83% of staff have received, with over 6,000 sessions completed. Our training material was created in conjunction with our SEG (Stakeholder Equality Group) members to reflect real-life lived experiences of travelling by rail – and how we can improve on this for customers. From that, we have created a comprehensive package of accessibility familiarisation of around 4 hours over 5 different modules.
“As my role does also look at integrating transport, so we also look after the rail cycle policy making sure this runs smoothly and safely – as well as bridging the gap between train to plane, trams, and taxis etc. However, 90% of my role is focused on accessibility.”
Why is accessibility important?
“I have always said the greatest gift anyone can have is the ability to travel – it broadens your horizons and gives you the ability to learn in a way you can’t in a classroom.
“The UK rail network connects all areas of England, Wales and Scotland – and everyone should get the chance to explore it. Accessibility is so important for us at West Midlands Railway as our number one aim is to transport people to these places safely whilst also recognising the value of the purple pound. I believe life is an experience, and for someone not to have that experience because they aren’t able to get there is not a good enough reason. Being spontaneous, for people who have to consider so many things before they leave, is not so easy – and we want to remove those barriers.”
The ability to make change
“My role gives me exposure to every corner of the business. Since I have started, I know every single head of in our business, I know what the business functions are and who does what. What comes with that is the ability to influence change and outcome in business decisions. I sit on a lot of projects, calls, and change programmes across the business – which provides the ability to influence and make significant impact.
“Accessibility has always sat in the corner of a business, but I have not worked for a company that is so dedicated to inclusion as West Midlands Railway. We really see the benefit and champion this through training or amending contracts and agreements.”
Customer feedback
“As previously mentioned we have a group called the Stakeholder Equality Group (SEG) made up of customers who travel on our network and have lived experience of travelling by train. We regularly receive positive feedback regarding helpful staff responses.
“We realise the value is in our people, and that the true value to someone’s customer experience is that one to one touch. As a company, we invest heavily in its accessibility – we provide information and discuss accessibility challenges to increase our ability to work closer together, we have a great executive sponsor team, and our recent training programme is pushed to be completed by all – including management.”
What’s next for accessibility at West Midlands Railway?
Next year we are hoping to reduce the level of notice period individuals need to provide. The focus is we want to ensure that everyone can travel safely, we want to do this by reducing the required notice period to two hours – and hope that in the future this can be reduced even further. We want to get to a place where everyone can just turn up and go. We have big things coming in the future to help people travel more spontaneously.
“The main message I want to share with everyone is don’t be afraid to travel by train, we will always get you home safely – no matter the situation or circumstances.”
To find out more about accessibility at West Midlands Railway, or to book assistance when travelling, visit our accessibility travel page.