A report published today (18 April) by the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) has found that some disabled passengers have experienced accessibility difficulties with the rail complaints process. There is also a lack of awareness of how to seek redress for booked assistance failures.
A cross-section of disabled people took part in research commissioned by ORR and surveys which collated evidence about their experiences of complaints handling by train operators.
Many were positive about how to raise a complaint or redress claim and secure the outcome they were hoping for; however, this was also countered by some reports of very poor experiences.
The key findings from the report show:
- 86% of disabled passengers who took part in the research were aware of their right to complain when they have received an unsatisfactory service. Of these 62% were ‘fully aware’, however the awareness of redress was lower, at 71%, with only 39% being ‘fully aware’.
- Operators’ complaints processes are broadly accessible to most disabled passengers but 46% reported that they experienced some barriers and 8% found the complaints process to be inaccessible.
- Disabled passengers would be more likely to complain if they felt it was a worthwhile use of their time and energy and that it would lead to change. Our report showed that in the past two years, 36% of disabled passengers didn’t complain when they believed they had cause to and 45% didn’t seek redress on any occasion when they could have.
The regulator will be engaging with relevant operators to drive improvement after identifying some non-compliance with specific requirements in the Complaints Code of Practice and the Accessible Travel Policy Guidance that are designed to secure passenger awareness and ensure that complaints processes are accessible to all disabled people.
All operators have also been asked to specifically look at complaints from disabled passengers and demonstrate what they have done to rectify the issues. These should be included in their respective annual reports on how insights from complaints have informed improvements.
Stephanie Tobyn, ORR director of strategy, policy and reform, said: “Where disabled rail users experience inadequate standards of service it is paramount that operators provide fully accessible means to raise complaints and clearly signpost where passengers can seek redress when their booked assistance has failed.
“We will follow up on the findings from the report and continue to monitor what operators are doing to improve the experience for disabled passengers.”
The full report can be found at www.orr.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-04/disabled-passengers-experiences-of-complaints-handling-april-2024.pdf.
Image credit: ORR
