Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the cost of making surface rail and London Underground trains and stations fully compliant with the provisions envisaged in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.[HL4631]
§ Lord Davies of OldhamThe costs of requiring all trains to be compliant with the regulations made under the DDA will depend on the date that by which time all non-compliant rolling stock must be made48WA accessible. We consulted earlier this year on our proposals for setting an end date for all rolling stock to comply with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations. This indicated the Government's preferred date of 2025. The total capital costs of meeting that date are currently estimated at £33.4 million for surface rail and £71.1 million for the London Underground.
No estimate is available for the costs of making all stations accessible. However the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is planning to consult soon on its draft disability strategy, which we expect will consider how best to allocate resources to help station operators to meet their obligations under Part 3 of the DDA.
London Underground is committed to improving access and has developed a key network strategy. The strategy identifies 100 stations across the network (in addition 40 are already accessible), which covers all lines and major branches and gives good opportunities for accessible interchange both between lines and with other modes. Other stations will be linked to those on the key network by fully accessible bus services.