Part 12Disabled persons: transport

Chapter 3Rail vehicles

182Rail vehicle accessibility regulations

1

The Secretary of State may make regulations (in this Chapter referred to as “rail vehicle accessibility regulations”) for securing that it is possible for disabled persons—

a

to get on to and off regulated rail vehicles in safety and without unreasonable difficulty;

b

to do so while in wheelchairs;

c

to travel in such vehicles in safety and reasonable comfort;

d

to do so while in wheelchairs.

2

The regulations may, in particular, make provision as to the construction, use and maintenance of regulated rail vehicles including provision as to—

a

the fitting of equipment to vehicles;

b

equipment to be carried by vehicles;

c

the design of equipment to be fitted to, or carried by, vehicles;

d

the use of equipment fitted to, or carried by, vehicles;

e

the toilet facilities to be provided in vehicles;

f

the location and floor area of the wheelchair accommodation to be provided in vehicles;

g

assistance to be given to disabled persons.

3

The regulations may contain different provision—

a

as respects different classes or descriptions of rail vehicle;

b

as respects the same class or description of rail vehicle in different circumstances;

c

as respects different networks.

4

In this section—

  • “network” means any permanent way or other means of guiding or supporting rail vehicles, or any section of it;

  • “rail vehicle” means a vehicle constructed or adapted to carry passengers on a railway, tramway or prescribed system other than a vehicle used in the provision of a service for the carriage of passengers on the F1trans-European rail system located in Great Britain;

  • “regulated rail vehicle” means a rail vehicle to which provisions of rail vehicle accessibility regulations are expressed to apply.

5

In subsection (4)—

  • F2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  • “prescribed system” means a system using a mode of guided transport (“guided transport” having the same meaning as in the Transport and Works Act 1992) that is specified in rail vehicle accessibility regulations;

  • “railway” and “tramway” have the same meaning as in the Transport and Works Act 1992.

  • F3“trans-European rail system” has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2011

6

The Secretary of State must exercise the power to make rail vehicle accessibility regulations so as to secure that on and after 1 January 2020 every rail vehicle is a regulated rail vehicle.

7

Subsection (6) does not affect subsection (3), section 183(1) or section 207(4)(a).

8

Before making regulations under subsection (1) or section 183, the Secretary of State must consult—

a

the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, and

b

such other representative organisations as the Secretary of State thinks fit.