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The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 46(1), (2) and (5) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995[1] and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf and after consultation with the Disabled Persons Tranport Advisory Committee and such other representative organisations as he thought fit in accordance with section 46(11) of the said Act, hereby makes the following Regulations: - 

Citation and commencement
     1. These Regulations may be cited as the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 1998 and shall come into force on 1st November 1998.

Interpretation
     2.  - (1) In these Regulations - 

"class of passenger accommodation" means a type or area of passenger accommodation in a rail vehicle designated for persons paying the fare appropriate to that accommodation;

"contrast" means a contrast in the amount of light which is reflected by the surfaces of the parts of a regulated rail vehicle or its equipment which are required by these Regulations to contrast;

"light maintenance depot" has the same meaning as in the Railways Act 1993[2];

"magnetic levitation" and "monorail" have the same meaning as in the Transport and Works (Guided Transport Modes) Order 1992[3];

"passenger saloon" means that part of the interior of a regulated rail vehicle provided for the accommodation of passengers but does not include a toilet cubicle or a vestibule adjoining an exterior doorway;

"priority seat" means a seat designated in accordance with regulation 8;

"railway" and "tramway" have the same meaning as in the Transport and Works Act 1992[4]

"reference wheelchair" means an occupied wheelchair having the dimensions shown in diagram A in the Schedule;

"street" means - 

(a) in England and Wales, a street within the meaning of section 48 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991[5], together with land on the verge of a street or between two carriageways;

(b) in Scotland, a road within the meaning of section 107 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, together with land on the verge of a road or between two carriageways;

"train" means two or more rail vehicles, other than tramcars, coupled together;

"tramcar" means a rail vehicle (whether articulated in one or more places or not) constructed or adapted to be accessible by persons at a tram stop;

"tram stop" means a stopping place for tramcars in a street or other place to which the public has access (including a place to which the public has access only on making a payment) at which persons may board or leave a tramcar;

"wheelchair-compatible doorway" means a doorway provided in accordance with regulation 19;

"wheelchair-compatible sleeping compartment" means a compartment in a regulated rail vehicle with sleeping accommodation which is provided for a disabled person in a wheelchair in accordance with regulation 17;

"wheelchair space" means a space in a regulated rail vehicle for a disabled person in a wheelchair which is provided in accordance with regulation 16;

"width" means, when applied to a doorway or passageway, the unobstructed width of that doorway or passageway up to a height of 1,400 millimetres above the door sill or floor, and "wide" shall be construed accordingly.

    (2) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation is a reference to a regulation bearing that number in these Regulations, any reference to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in the relevant regulation and a reference to the Schedule is a reference to the Schedule to these Regulations.

Application of Regulations
     3.  - (1) These Regulations apply to rail vehicles used on railways, tramways, monorail systems or magnetic levitation systems.

    (2) A regulated rail vehicle which ceases to comply with these Regulations as a result of equipment failure or damage shall not be required to comply with these Regulations in respect of such failure or damage until either the sixth day following the occurrence of such failure or damage or the day after its first visit to a light maintenance depot following such occurrence, whichever shall be the sooner.

    (4) In this regulation "sound" includes the spoken word.

Door controls
     5.  - (1) No control device to enable a passenger to open or close a power-operated door shall be fitted to a regulated rail vehicle unless:

(a) the centre of the control device is not less than 700 millimetres and not more than 1200 millimetres vertically above an imaginary horizontal line extended from the door sill of the relevant doorway;

(b) the control device is operable by the palm of the hand exerting a pressure not exceeding 15 newtons;

(c) the control device or its immediate surround is illuminated continuously whenever it is operable;

(d) the control device contrasts with the surface on which it is mounted; and

(e) the control device is identifiable by touch.

    (2) When power-operated doors are closed by a member of the operator's staff the illumination of each such control device shall cease not less than 3 seconds before the doors start to close.

Steps
     6.  - (1) Steps for use by passengers at any external doorway of a regulated rail vehicle shall comply with the following requirements - 

(a) the surface of each tread shall be covered in slip-resistant material;

(b) across the front edge of each tread there shall be a band of colour which shall be not less than 45 millimetres and not more than 50 millimetres deep and shall contrast with the remainder of the tread;

(c) the rear of each step shall be closed by a vertical riser fixed to the rear of the tread and the front edge of the tread above or of the floor of the vehicle;

(d) each step shall be illuminated by a light placed within or immediately adjacent to the step;

(e) each step shall be not more than 200 millimetres high measured vertically from the surface of the tread to an imaginary line extended horizontally from the surface of the next tread or floor of the vehicle and not less than 300 millimetres deep measured from the front of the tread to its rear; and

(f) the surface of each tread shall be not less than 455 millimetres wide.

    (2) Paragraph (1)(e) and (f) do not apply if there is not more than one step outside an external doorway.

    (3) Subject to paragraph (4), inside a regulated rail vehicle there shall be no step between an external passenger doorway and that part of the passenger saloon to one side of that doorway for as far as and including either the vestibule of the next external passenger doorway on the same side of that vehicle or the end of that vehicle if there is no other such doorway.

    (4) Paragraph (3) shall not apply to stairs leading to any upper passenger saloon of a regulated rail vehicle.

Floors
     7. The floors of areas used by passengers in a regulated rail vehicle shall comply with the following requirements:

(a) all floors shall be slip-resistant;

(b) the floor of a vestibule adjoining a doorway in the side of a vehicle shall contrast with the adjacent floor in the passenger saloon of that vehicle;

(c) the floor across the width of the doorway between the jambs shall be marked by a strip which shall contrast with the adjoining floor surface, run parallel to the edge of the door sill, be not less than 50 millimetres broad measured from the edge nearer that door sill to the edge further from it and be not more than 100 millimetres from that door sill measured from the edge of that door sill to the edge of the strip further from that door sill.

Seats
     8.  - (1) Not less than 10 per cent of the seats in a regulated rail vehicle or 8 seats (whichever is the lesser number) shall be designated by signs complying with paragraph (6) as priority seats for the use of disabled persons.

    (2) No priority seat may be capable of being tipped up or folded whilst the regulated rail vehicle is used for carriage.

    (3) Each priority seat and the space available to its user shall comply with the specifications shown in diagram B1 and in diagram B2, B3 or B4 in the Schedule.

    (4) Any armrest fitted to a priority seat shall be movable to the extent required to permit unrestricted access by a disabled person to that seat or any other priority seat to which access may be gained past that seat.

    (5) If tables or trays (whether fixed or folding) are fitted for the use of passengers at not less than 10 per cent of the seats (other than priority seats) in a regulated rail vehicle a similar table or tray shall be fitted for the use of persons in each priority seat.

    (6) There shall be a sign on or near to a priority seat indicating that disabled persons have priority for the use of that seat.

Tramcar request-stop controls
     9. If a tramcar is fitted with controls for the use of passengers to request a stop by that tramcar:

(a) there shall be such a control within reach of each person seated in a priority seat;

(b) there shall be such a control within reach of each person in a wheelchair in a wheelchair space;

(c) there shall be a such a control adjacent to at least every third row of seats;

(d) the height of the centre of the control measured vertically above the floor shall be - 


(i) not less than 1,150 millimetres and not more than 1,250 millimetres if the control is for the use of seated passengers, or

(ii) not less than 1,400 millimetres and not more than 1,500 millimetres if the control is for the use of other passengers;



(e) the surround of the control shall contrast with the control and with the surface on which that surround is mounted;

(f) the control shall be operable by the palm of the hand exerting a pressure not exceeding 15 newtons;

(g) when a control has been operated signs bearing the word "Stopping", in which the first letter only shall be a capital letter, shall be illuminated and remain illuminated until the tramcar has stopped and one or more of its doors have been opened;

(h) signs of the type required by paragraph (g) above shall be visible from any part of the passenger saloon of a tramcar.

Interior transparent surfaces
     10.  - (1) Subject to paragraph (2) any transparent surface in the interior of a regulated rail vehicle shall:

(a) be separated from an area in which a disabled person can walk, or go in a wheelchair, by a seat, table or other fitting; or

(b) bear a coloured marking which shall be not less than 140 millimetres and not more than 160 millimetres high and extend horizontally across the whole width of the panel at a height of 1,500 millimetres measured vertically from the floor to the bottom edge of that marking; or

(c) be bounded on any side which is not attached to the floor, wall or ceiling of the vehicle by a handrail which shall comply with regulation 11(2).

    (2) Where such a surface is a door it shall comply with paragraph (1)(b).

Handrails and handholds
     11.  - (1) A handrail shall be fitted in the following positions:

(a) in every regulated rail vehicle as close as practicable on either side of the interior of an external doorway extending vertically from a point not more than 700 millimetres above the floor to a point not less than 1200 millimetres above the floor; and

(b) in a tramcar at intervals of not more than 1050 millimetres in the longitudinal plane of the vehicle.

    (2) Any handrail in a regulated rail vehicle shall comply with the following requirements:

(a) a handrail shall have a circular cross section with a diameter of not less than 30 millimetres and not more than 40 millimetres;

(b) if a handrail is curved, the radius of the surface of the handrail inside the curve shall not be less than 50 millimetres;

(c) there shall be a clear space of not less than 45 millimetres between any part of the regulated rail vehicle and all parts of the handrail other than its mountings;

(d) a handrail shall have a slip-resistant surface;

(e) a handrail shall contrast with the parts of the regulated rail vehicle adjacent to that handrail.

    (3) Subject to paragraph (4) a handhold shall be fitted to the top of the back of each seat which faces towards an end of a regulated rail vehicle and which is next to a gangway in a passenger saloon and shall comply with the following requirements:

(a) the surface of a handhold (excluding the mountings to the seat) shall be rounded;

(b) a handhold shall contrast with the seat to which the handhold is attached;

(c) a handhold shall have a slip-resistant surface;

(d) there shall be no gap less than 150 millimetres wide measured in any direction in a handhold or between a handhold and the seat to which it is attached.

    (4) Paragraph (3) does not apply to a seat the back of which touches a partition, to a seat the back of which touches the back of another seat which faces in the opposite direction and is fitted with a handhold, or to a seat to which a handrail is attached.

Door handles
     12. A door handle fitted for the use of passengers shall be operable by the exertion of a force not exceeding 15 newtons.

Passenger information
     13.  - (1) A regulated rail vehicle shall be fitted with public address systems for audible and visual announcements inside the passenger saloon and for visual announcements on the exterior of the vehicle.

    (2) The system for visual announcements on the exterior of the vehicle shall be fitted, if the vehicle is not hauled by a locomotive, - 

(a) on the front of a single vehicle;

(b) where two or more vehicles are coupled together, on the front of the leading vehicle; or

(c) where five or more vehicles are coupled together, on each side of each vehicle, unless such a system is fitted to the front of the leading vehicle.

    (3) The system for visual announcements on the exterior of a vehicle which is hauled by one or more locomotives shall be fitted to each side of each such vehicle, unless such a system is fitted to the front of the leading locomotive and is used to provide the announcements required by paragraph (4) using letters and numbers which comply with paragraph (7).

    (4) Whilst the vehicle is stationary at a station or a tram stop, the systems inside the passenger saloon and on the exterior of the vehicle shall be used to announce the destination of the vehicle, or, if the vehicle is following a circular route, the name or number of the route, and, in the case of systems inside the passenger saloon only, to announce the next stop.

    (5) Subject to paragraph (6) the systems inside the passenger saloon shall be used - 

(a) to announce the next station, or tram stop, at which the vehicle will be stopping, not less than once during the period beginning five minutes before the vehicle is expected by the operator's staff to stop at that station or tram stop;

(b) to announce any delay exceeding ten minutes to the scheduled timing for that journey;

(c) to announce any diversions from the route shown in the published timetable for that journey; and

(d) to make emergency announcements.

    (6) Paragraph (5)(a) does not apply if the timetabled journey time between stations or tram stops is less than two minutes.

    (7) The first letter of, and numbers used in, announcements on visual systems shall be not less than 70 millimetres high on systems on the front of the vehicle and not less than 35 millimetres high on other systems, and all letters and numbers shall contrast with their background.

    (8) A word on a visual system shall not be written in capital letters only.

    (9) Visual announcements inside the passenger saloon shall be visible from the majority of passenger seats (including priority seats) in that saloon.

Toilets
     14. If a toilet is fitted in a regulated rail vehicle that vehicle shall comply with the following requirements:

(a) the centre of any door control device on the exterior or the interior of the toilet cubicle shall be not less than 800 millimetres and not more than 1,200 millimetres vertically above the floor;

(b) any door control device, or other equipment inside the toilet cubicle shall be operable by the exertion of a force of not more than 15 newtons;

(c) the seat and any lid on the toilet and any handholds in the toilet cubicle shall be coloured to contrast with the adjacent parts of the toilet cubicle;

(d) the immediate surround of a control device in a toilet cubicle shall be coloured to contrast with that control device and with the part of the toilet cubicle on which it is mounted;

(e) a control device inside a toilet cubicle shall be so constructed as to be identifiable by touch.

Facilities for disabled persons in wheelchairs

Wheelchair spaces
     15.  - (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) below a regulated rail vehicle which does not form part of a train shall contain not less than one wheelchair space.

    (2) A tramcar with accommodation for 100 or more persons shall contain not less than two wheelchair spaces.

    (3) Subject to paragraph (4) where a train consists of a number of regulated rail vehicles shown in column A there shall be in that train not less than the number of wheelchair spaces shown in column B opposite that number of vehicles;

A	B
2 to 7 vehicles	2 wheelchair spaces
8 to 11 vehicles	3 wheelchair spaces
12 or more vehicles	4 wheelchair spaces

    (4) Where one or more regulated rail vehicles in a train are provided for a different class of passenger accommodation from another regulated rail vehicle in that train there shall be not less than one wheelchair space in each class of passenger accommodation in that train.

[2] 1993 c. 43.back

[3] S.I. 1992/3231.back

[4] 1992 c. 42.back

[5] 1991 c. 22.back