Accessibility panel

Accessibility panel

Our accessibility panel influences our accessibility policies and advises us on how to support disabled, deaf and older customers to use our services effectively.

The Panel also advises us on our accessibility plans for new and refurbished trains and stations, as well as our staff training programme. Their mystery shopping exercises provide us with invaluable feedback on our stations and premises.

The members of the Panel are made up of disabled and older people with a varying range of experience of rail travel. They have hidden and visible impairments and each champion different issues facing customers with access barriers.

The Panel meets monthly and as required, via task groups and workshops throughout the year.

Paralympic athlete Nathan Stephens joins forces with us to promote accessible travel

Read the article here

Our panel

• Margaret Buchanan Geddes
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  • Margaret is a blind veteran and has neuro-sensory hearing loss. She is also an ambassador for Deafblind UK and Blind Veterans in South Wales. Margaret is the volunteer Chairperson of the local Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot Group. She believes in the principle of equality of travel - geographical equality of access with ease of travel for all members of society irrespective of ability/disability.
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  • My main aim on the Panel is to fight under the banner ‘disability is not geographical’

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • I really want parity in bus and train travel throughout Wales and the UK in general.
• Margaret Everson MBE
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  • Margaret was Director for Wales for Bus Users Cymru and dealt with strategy and policy matters as well as bus punctuality and reliability. She holds a CPC in National and International PSV Operations. Since stepping down from Bus Users Cymru in 2018, Margaret has continued her role on the Ministerial Advisory Forum for Ageing and sits on the MAFA Transport Group. She has worked in public transport since 1977, is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and is a member of the CILT Board of Trustees.
  • Margaret was appointed an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2013 for services to bus users and transport in Wales.
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  • I joined the Panel to pursue my interest in the provision of information and movement around railway stations, as well as the door to door experience of travel for older and less mobile people.

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • The way essential information is presented – the right height for everybody to read it and a big enough font for customers in a hurry
• Andrea Gordon
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  • Andrea lives in Swansea and manages Guide Dogs Cymru's engagement team. She is a member of the Accessible Transport Panel which has played a major role in developing the Welsh Government's accessible transport objectives. Andrea actively campaigns for the inclusion of disabled people in all areas of life and, as a guide dog owner, has a particular interest in the inclusion of people with sight loss. Her job involves influencing policy makers at a strategic level which requires a sound technical knowledge of inclusive practice in the built environment and the application of equality legislation. Andrea is Chair of Vision Impaired West Glamorgan (VIWG) a charity representing the views and concerns of people with sight loss in Swansea. This involves influencing local transport infrastructure and strategy, requiring an understanding of local as well as national transport planning.
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  • I am a frequent independent user of rail services and am passionate about ensuring they are accessible and inclusive.

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • Accessible and inclusive transport information is particularly critical for people with sight loss, including audio-visual announcements at stations and on-board all trains.
• Eric Heath
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  • Eric is an autism self-advocate at the Department of Health and Social Care, working cross-government on the national autism strategy in England. Diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, Dyspraxia and ADHD, Eric has advocated for those with hidden impairments and has co-run ‘Autonomy’, a self-help and social group for autistic adults for the past 15 years. In his spare time Eric writes and records music as ‘E.L. Heath’ (his Welsh-language album ‘Tŷ’ was featured as ‘album of the week’ on BBC Radio Cymru in 2013). He also plays cricket, having represented the England Learning Disability Lions, the Shropshire County Disability team for 18 years and his local club Knockin and Kinnerley. Eric lives with his partner Victoria in rural Mid-Wales at the base of a towering hill.
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  • Living in Mid-Wales, I'm keen to help improve my local rail service, which is a critical link many people rely on. My interest in transport, with a view to access, has been life-long.

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • As someone with recognised hidden impairments, I’m keen to improve access in areas which are less obvious and for conditions which are less visible, aiming to improve access for all. Areas such as perception and communication can be critical barriers if not addressed and the increased use of technology to help navigate our complex rail network is vital to helping plan and complete a journey. Areas such as this can only help build confidence and independence if made accessible to all.
• Kirsty James
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  • Kirsty is a Campaigns Officer for RNIB Cymru. She supports blind and partially sighted people with local and national campaign issues, such as transport, shared space and accessible information. Kirsty volunteers for two sight loss charities Look UK and Esme’s Umbrella to help others overcome barriers they experience. She sits on various health board steering groups, Council Access Groups and ITV Accessibility Panel. Kirsty has been travelling independently using rail for the last thirteen years with a vision impairment.

  • Working for RNIB Cyrmu, I hope my involvement in the Panel will help our organisations work in a joined-up and strategic way.

• Mark Jones
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  • Mark has expressed a keen interest in travel since his youth, spending countless hours as a teenager travelling across North Wales by both bus and train. Mark volunteers as a Travel Ambassador for Gig Buddies – a project ran by Learning Disabilities Wales. Mark also volunteers for Bus Users Cymru (part of Bus Users UK) and is a Local Representative. Mark has a physical disability and is visually impaired and his partner has a Learning Disability and is registered blind. Mark has experience in accessibility, information services and speaks both Welsh and English, Mark has been a member of the Panel since it commenced.
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  • I joined the Accessibility and Inclusion Panel to ensure that everyone, regardless of their disability have their voices heard

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • I would like to make sure that every train and every station has readily accessible information in a format that can be understood by all.
• Robert Mann
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  • Robert is from Llandudno, North Wales. He is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and lives with a range of related difficulties and health issues ranging from anxiety to dyspraxia and other physical issues. Robert is passionate about photography (specialising in railway photography) alongside cosplay and modelling work. He has been doing community rail projects with Arriva Trains Wales (and now Transport for Wales) for the last few years, including the Confident Traveller project and promotes the Orange Wallet scheme. Robert also produces photography for the TfW media team. He is also working on a documentary project on Autism with ‘TAPE Community Music and Film’ based in Old Colwyn, North Wales.
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  • I want to make a positive contribution to the railway industry that will enable people with disabilities to travel more confidently and comfortably.

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • I particularly want to highlight the difficulties faced by people like myself who have hidden disabilities and are less likely to receive assistance by staff if they lack understanding of invisible disabilities.
• Trevor Palmer B.E.M.
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  • Trevor’s interest in access issues has evolved since his diagnosis with MS in 1994. He is a Director of Disability Wales, a Trustee of See Around Britain and was contracted to establish and run the Wales Millennium Centre Disability Advisory Group during its construction and fitting out. In 2018 Trevor was awarded the British Empire Medal for his services to disabled people in Wales. Being a full time wheelchair user who travels with his PA / Support worker in the course of running his business, good access is important to Trevor’s independence. His social model approach is key to the panel’s success.
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  • I’m on the panel to offer my knowledge and skills to improve the travel experience of disabled passengers.

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • Businesses can sometimes forget customer experience for their disabled customers. So I want to focus on customer experience of every aspect of rail travel including physical access, staff attitudes and business practice. 
• Amanda Say
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  • Amanda is a frequent traveller on public transport and uses the train several times a week to get her to meetings and for leisure. She is a volunteer coach with Riding for the Disabled working with adults and children with different disabilities, specialising in teaching dressage. Amanda is also volunteers as a Rail Pastor, an initiative involving trained volunteers from the local churches who look out for vulnerable people travelling on the railways and help where they can. She takes any opportunity that she can to promote the rights of the disabled person and represent their needs.
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  • I want to contribute my experiences as a passenger using a wheelchair to improve the experience of rail travel from booking assistance to leaving the station.

• Alun Thomas
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  • Alun is an established rights campaigner having worked in senior positions in the Disability Rights Commission, Equality & Human Rights Commission and the Older People’s Commissioner’s office. Prior to these roles he was RNIB’s Parliamentary Officer. Alan is partially sighted. He is currently a carer for an elderly partner with a range of physical and mental health impairments. Both are regular rail travellers.
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  • I offer Transport for Wales my working knowledge of equality laws and their practical application including interaction with Welsh language obligations.

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • I want to help embed disability equality impact assessments into day to day decision- making.
• Rhys Govier
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  • A Chartered Town Planner by profession, Rhys enjoys shaping the places we live, work and play and has an appreciation of the importance of accessibility and connectivity in the 21st century. Rhys was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease – an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) – in January 2017. Rhys regularly travels across England and Wales by train for work and therefore has firsthand experience of the difficulties faced by those with ‘hidden’ disabilities when using the transport network and the corresponding stigma. Rhys lives in Cardiff with his wife and children. His wife, Charlotte, is a General Practitioner with a specialist interest in IBD.
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  • I joined the Accessibility Panel in an effort to represent the needs of those with ‘hidden’ disabilities, and in particular those who require ready access to toilets. I am hopeful we can build a transport system that encourages use by all.

  • Is there a specific issue you want to champion on the Panel?
  • Awareness of ‘hidden’ disabilities and the ready accessibility to toilets across the transport network, including station buildings and rolling stock.
• Joshua Reeves
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  • Joshua is a disability rights campaigner with cerebral palsy. He founded Don’t Call Me Special which is an independent award-winning Point of Light campaign to change people’s mindsets/perspectives on disability. He’s known for confronting people’s vocabulary & views on disability. He is also the Campaign Support Officer for Leonard Cheshire Cymru which is a disability charity who support individuals to live, learn and work as independently as they choose, whatever their ability. Led by people with experience of disability, we are at the heart of local life — opening doors to opportunity, choice and support in communities around the globe
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• Rachel Jones
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  • My name is Rachel Jones and I’m an avid train traveller. I was born with a vision impairment called Retinitis Pigmentosa and was never able to learn to drive, so using trains is the main way that I feel I can be independent. I lived on the Heart of Wales line for most of my life, and now live on the Cambrian line, and so a passion of mine is advocating for better rural transport links as well as better accessibility on trains and at stations. I work for RNIB Cymru, the sight loss charity, and campaign for better awareness and understanding of sight loss as well as social change to break down the barriers faced by blind and partially sighted people.