In News

The government have revealed new accessibility guidance for maritime operators to make journeys at sea more accessible for disabled passengers.

The Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani, has announced the publication of the new Passenger Rights Toolkit during a visit to Liverpool where she met representatives from the various ports that can be found in the area.

The new toolkit provides operators in England and Wales with a high level guide on what they must do to comply with passenger rights regulations, as well as recommendations on how maritime transport can be made more accessible. It will apply to services, like ferries, operating from Liverpool and makes recommendations on how this transport service can be made more accessible.

The guidance follows a survey carried out by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on disabled passengers’ experiences when travelling by sea. The results helped form this initiative and has been developed in collaboration with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee and industry representatives including the UK Chamber of Shipping and British Ports Association.

The toolkit covers the whole journey, from accessing information while booking to arriving at the final destination. It highlights the challenges that disabled people can face in travelling by sea, whether their disabilities are visible or not. Maritime transport already benefits from comprehensive passenger rights which are enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard agency. This new toolkit is to provide guidance to support these existing regulations.

Nusrat Ghani said: “I am delighted to be launching our Passenger Rights toolkit in Liverpool which shows how making small changes has the potential to make a huge impact on the lives of disabled passengers.
“This is one of the commitments set out in our Inclusive Transport Strategy, and I am proud we are leading the way with this work to complement the UN’s sustainable development goals, helping make the world more inclusive for disabled people. I encourage as many operators as possible to support out vision to make sure disabled people have the same access to transport as everyone else.”

Speaking about the new toolkit, Keith Richards, chair of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, said: “We welcome the launch of this toolkit which delivers an important commitment the Department for Transport made in its Inclusive Transport Strategy. In turn, it will help the industry deliver better access for disabled people, not just by bringing some much needed clarity to what the law already requires on accessibility, but by promoting ideas on what good practice looks like.”

The development of the toolkit has a commitment in the Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy which was published in 2018 and sets out the government’s ambition for disabled people to have the same access to transport. The strategy, named It’s Everyone’s Journey, is a communications campaign which aims to improve the public transport experience for everyone by creating a more considerate and supportive travel environment.

Find out more: gov.uk/everyonesjourney

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