The importance of passenger lift provision has been increasingly appreciated in recent years as work to modernise rail and metro transport services has taken place across the UK. This has been especially true in London.
However, the situation in the capital is not always replicated in the commuter belt.
True, in some cases, positive developments have benefited both those using London stations and those just outside the capital. For example, all Crossrail Stations have step-free access, which benefits travellers as much in Berkshire and Essex as in London.
Elsewhere, the situation is somewhat mixed. For example, while a new lift is being installed to provide access for all to Platform 1 at Hertford North Station, plans for step-free access at Leagrave Station in Luton have run into the buffers.
Luton North MP Sarah Owen used a House of Commons debate to accuse the previous Conservative government of lying when it ostensibly approved funding for platform lifts at the station in 2024, only for it to subsequently transpire that no funding was in place.
As Luton Today reports, she demanded to know what the present government were going to do about the situation.
The MP related how she had previously struggled to use the stairs to the platform bridge when she was pregnant and subsequently when trying to lift a pushchair up them.
Which Bedfordshire Railway Stations Have Step-Free Access?
Elsewhere in Luton and across Bedfordshire, the situation is distinctly mixed:
· Luton Airport Parkway, the newest of the town’s three stations, has step-free access to all platforms.
· Luton Station in the town centre only has step-free access to platforms in one direction.
· Flitwick has step-free access in just one direction, just like Luton.
· Bedford has step-free access, as does Bedford St John’s.
· There is some step-free access to all platforms at Leighton Buzzard.
Not all the step-free access is provided by lifts. For example, Bedford St John’s provides access using ramps.
Overall, the situation in Bedfordshire is better than in many places. But, as Leagrave shows, there is some way to go before there is full step-free access for all.