Mr. Jim Meade:

The Chairman's comments are noted. My colleagues and I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for the invitation to attend today to discuss the topic of accessibility of public transport for people with disabilities as it relates to Iarnród Éireann. As director of railway undertaking, I am responsible for our train operations and the maintenance of our fleet and our stations, all of which directly relate to the accessibility of our services. I want to give the committee an overview of where we have come from, our current service provision and planned improvements as well as future measures needed to give the best and most independently usable service possible in the future.

Virtually the entire Iarnród Éireann rail network was originally developed in the 19th century and when significant renewal investment returned to the railway in the 1990s, it is fair to say that the legacy of that Victorian era still remained with us. Apart from the DART network, our trains had significant accessibility issues and stations had not been upgraded to modern accessibility standards. However, in 1995 we appointed an accessibility liaison officer, adopted the latest accessibility standards for fleet and buildings and established a disability users group in 1997 which operates to this day and includes the major representative bodies for the mobility and sensory impaired. This ensured that the benefits of Exchequer funded investment in trains, stations and customer systems throughout the intervening decades were enjoyed by all customers, with direct input to design via our disability users group.

This has ensured that all our Intercity trains have dedicated wheelchair spaces, and wheelchair accessible toilets, and all are accessible via a mobile ramp. All DART and commuter trains are accessible via a mobile ramp and have an open area which can accommodate wheelchairs as well as designated areas. All new stations and all major station refurbishment programmes ensured accessibility was incorporated into the design, including ramps and-or lifts for access to all platforms. Design features for the visually impaired such as tactile markings on platforms and colour contrasts on board services have enhanced the safety and usability of the travelling environment. An ambitious programme was well under way to complete necessary accessibility works at all stations. However, it was regrettable that this proved to be one of the many casualties when the country’s economic crisis caused major rail investment grind to a halt. While significant progress was made, we are acutely aware that there is much more to be done.

While our train fleet is now accessible, there is in all instances a gap between train and platform to ensure the safe operation of services. For this reason, a mobile ramp is used by staff to assist in boarding and alighting of wheelchair users. As members of the committee will be aware, we are seeking to commence a major order of new trains to cater for growth in demand across our network and planned electrification of the greater Dublin area rail lines as part of the DART expansion programme, including DART underground. In any tender process, we will request companies bidding to build fleet to include solutions such as automated ramps from the train to facilitate independent use of our services by the mobility impaired. I would advise members of the committee that the Victorian legacy to which I referred at the outset results in platform heights and gaps which have the potential to impact on the effectiveness of some automated ramp solutions, particularly at curved platforms, including those at major stations such as Connolly Station in Dublin and Kent Station in Cork.

Today, 118 of our 144 stations have all platforms accessible, with the remaining 26 stations having at least one platform accessible. We have two prioritised programmes to address the remaining stations and to improve accessibility standards within other stations, as funding becomes available. A prioritised programme to remove impediments or restrictions on access both entering and within station areas is progressing, covering 54 stations. The funding envelope from the National Transport Authority, NTA, has increased steadily in recent years for accessibility projects, from €250,000 in 2015, to €510,000 in 2016 and €2.4 million in 2017, which included a new access to platforms Nos. 6 and 7 in Connolly Station, and which saw 26 of those 54 stations addressed. The 2018 allocation will be confirmed shortly and we are ready to proceed with a range of projects.

A separate programme which would provide lift and footbridge access at stations without all platforms accessible has commenced, with planning permission secured for Carlow and Mullingar and planning applications well under way for Castleknock and Ennis. The timescales for these works will be dependent on funding availability.

On a daily basis we assist hundreds of customers, be they wheelchair users, of reduced mobility, or visually impaired, as they use our stations and our services. The committee will be aware that we advise mobility impaired customers to give notice where possible to ensure we can provide any assistance needed. I would stress, however, that this is advised and not essential, and we make every endeavour to provide assistance at all times, whether notice is less than the advised 24 hours or whether no notice is possible. This is the case today in many instances, particularly where our staff have well established relationships with regular users who require assistance. In addition, as I mentioned above, 26 of our stations remain partially accessible and notice ensures we can plan that trains are directed to serve accessible platforms at these stations when assistance is required. However, we want to work towards a future where any notice is ultimately eliminated and have worked with the representative bodies on our disability users group to develop plans to achieve this. Later this month we will commence a pilot programme on DART stations to improve assistance for customers. This will move away from a situation where we have many stations partially staffed to a “hub station” concept where nominated hub stations are permanently staffed. Staff will be mobile between the hub stations and no more than two other stations served by that hub, meaning assistance and response times will be much improved. We will reduce the advised notice to four hours, but continue to respond to requests for assistance in all situations. We will liaise with the disability users group and individual users to ensure improvements are being delivered and issues addressed and after six months will review the pilot programme, both for its expansion to commuter services and for further reductions in the advised notice period.

We are also in the process of introducing Intercity customer service officers on trains across the Intercity network. Ultimately, as we complete this during 2018, this will ensure a turn up and go service for the vast majority as there will always be assistance available when boarding and alighting each train. This will provide customer service improvements on board for all customers also, including connection information, seat reservations, delay assistance and addressing anti-social behaviour issues.

Building on and further to the initiatives I have just outlined, we are also working with regular mobility and sensory impaired users of our services to develop a dedicated assistance app which will provide another channel by which we can engage with users, provide assistance and improve service. We hope to develop this in 2018, and begin a trial of this facility by the end of the year.

We are a national railway and have a responsibility to provide the best possible service to all our customers. We are confident that initiatives being introduced this year will result in significant improvements for customers with disabilities in using our services to live their lives, and to be full participants in our society and our economy. They will be the latest in what has been a continuous programme of development, which will also form the foundation for future improvements.

We welcome support for the investment needed as we build further on this, both for our fleet and our stations. I am happy to take questions.