Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) operates Horwich Parkway Station. TfGM commissioned the construction of the station which was completed and opened on 2 July 1999.
This is the only station we operate; we do not operate the train service.
Northern Trains is the sole train operator for the station.
The format and content of this policy has been based on the Accessible Travel Policy (ATP), Guidance for Train and Station Operators issued by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and, in making any alteration to it, we shall have due regard to the Design Standards for: ‘Design Standard for Accessible Railway Stations: A Joint Code of Practice by the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland’.
A - Commitments to providing assistance
1. Commitments for booking and providing assistance
Here at TfGM, we want you to have a pleasant and successful journey experience. Booking assistance offers us the best opportunity to meet your needs, however if you turn up on the day there are a range of facilities and staff available to ensure we offer ample assistance.
We recognise the broad range of rail customers who require assistance and will make the best practicable provision to meet your requirements. This not only applies if you use a wheelchair but also if you have:
- Visual or auditory impairments
- Impaired mobility, either temporarily or longer term
- Mental health conditions
- Anxiety
- Depression, OCD, schizophrenia and personality disorders
- Autism and Asperger syndrome
- Sensory processing difficulties
- Cognitive impairment for example dementia, traumatic brain injury and learning disabilities
- Non-visible physical health conditions for example chronic pain, respiratory and heart conditions, diabetes and cancer
- Or are an older person
Booked assistance
All train operators use passenger assist as part of their commitment to inclusive travel, ensuring that customers of all ages, abilities, and neurodivergent profiles can book assistance easily and travel confidently across the National Rail network.
You can book assistance upto only 2 hours before you travel.
Our team can provide the following assistance:
- Assistance with boarding and alighting from trains or for changing trains.
- Help with your luggage.
- Help with moving around our station.
- Help between the station drop-off point (e.g. station taxi rank) and station.
- Requesting a portable ramp for boarding or alighting train services.
- Requesting assistance with transferring between the platform and the train or moving around the station (available during ticket office opening times).
- At our station, make travel reservations on services operated by train operators where reservations are available.
- Request any other assistance that might be needed during your journey.
To book in advance, the following contact details are available:
- National freephone number: 0800 0223720 (available 24 hours)
- Textphone 60083
- Telephone/Minicom 0345 60 50 600
You can book assistance via Northern Trains on the following:
- Telephone: 0800 138 5560 – Open 24 hours, 7 days a week
- Text Relay 18001 08 00 138 5560
- Online: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/passenger-assist
Using the Passenger Assist booking system means that you can arrange assistance for your entire journey, including assistance for all intermediate connections. Colleagues at Horwich Parkway station receive information on all assistance bookings to and from our station, and we will make sure that we are there to provide the assistance during the hours we have available staff.
Our station is staffed through the ticket office from 06:20 – 19:35 hours Monday to Saturday. Outside of these hours Northern Trains conductors, on board the trains, will be able to provide you with boarding and alighting assistance only.
If you are starting or ending your journey at our station outside of these hours and would like assistance, please contact Northern Trains assistance team.
Horwich Parkway is a Category A station which means it has step-free access to and between both platforms, at all times, trains are running.
There is level access to platform 1 and the ticket office. There is a footbridge which serves as an interchange connecting platform 1 to platform 2. This is accessible via a wheelchair accessible ramp on both sides with a gradient of 1:12.
When you book assistance, staff at your destination station will help you off the train within five minutes of arrival. We are committed to providing sufficient resources and continually improving the national Passenger Assistance system. Booking in advance gives us the best chance to meet your needs effectively.
Unbooked assistance
Alternatively, you have the option to turn up and go at our station. If you have not booked, but would like assistance from one of our team, please head to our ticket office where a member of our staff will be happy to help you. Outside of staffed hours, you can use one of our help points situated on each platform which will connect you to the Northern Trains assistance line where their team will ensure staff onboard their trains can assist you with getting on and getting off the train. This option may take a little longer to arrange, but we are committed to ensuring you are provided with the assistance you need. If you are getting on the train, please make yourself known to the conductor when the train arrives at the platform.
We follow the ORR Handover Protocol for all booked and unbooked assistance. Our staff will always contact your destination station to confirm that someone will be available to meet you. Each staffed station has a designated person responsible for receiving these calls, and we provide a dedicated contact number for other operators to use for this purpose.
Ramps
On each platform a portable ramp is available for use by either our staff or staff onboard the train you are getting on or off due to the gap between the train and the platform.
Help with luggage
We are able to assist with your luggage when it has been booked via Passenger Assist. Our rules regarding the number of items is consistent with the National Rail Conditions of Travel (in relation to weight and number of items) and this service is free of charge.
2. Information provision
We want our customers to be informed and confident that the information we give them is accurate and consistent. This is particularly important if a journey involves changing trains as they will need to know that they can make the whole journey without undue difficulty.
We will ensure that accessibility information for Horwich Parkway station will be kept up to date on the National Rail Enquiries (NRE) station page and on our website. On the NRE station page you’ll also find simple, step by step information about every station on the national rail network and other train operators’ services with details of any temporary changes (e.g. building works).
National Rail Enquiries: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/default.aspx.
TFGM station accessibility information: https://tfgm.com/accessibility/guides/train-accessibility
We are committed to updating information on temporary restrictions/limitations on the NRE website and within 24 hours of the changes happening so that this information will be made clear to you at the time of planning your journey or booking assistance. This information includes:
- Where our station has a physical constraint that prevents some disabled persons from using it;
- Where significant temporary work that affects our station accessibility is being carried out.
- Where there are changes to a station that would make them temporarily inaccessible such as the accessible toilet being out of order.
3. Accessible Travel Policy documentation including alternative formats
We are committed to ensuring all customers can access important information that is accessible, accurate, relevant, consistent, up-to-date and easy to understand helping to provide passengers with assurance and confidence at every stage of their journey, including when journey planning prior to departure.
Our staff at Horwich Parkway Station, who are based at the ticket office, will provide details on how to obtain a copy of our ATP documents and those of other operators such as Northern Trains. A copy of our policy documents can also be obtained in alternative formats such as braille, larger text, online as PDF and accessible using screen readers on request to by contacting TfGM.
This service is free of charge and completed within seven working days of the request.
4. Passenger journey information (online, at stations, on trains)
We are committed to ensuring train departures and arrivals information is clear and consistent. The station is fitted with electronic Customer Information Screens that provide real-time information about the train services; these are integrated into Northern Trains system. Staff also have access to up-to-date information on rail delays and will be happy to provide this information.
Wayfinding
We are committed to meeting the standards documented in the industry guide ‘Design Standards for Accessible Railway Stations – A joint Code of Practice by the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland’ - published by the Department for Transport. These standards ensure our station is clearly and consistently signposted and our staff are always available to provide information and assistance to help you navigate our facility. We believe that the station is adequately signed but, if changes were required, we will consult with local authorities to make sure these are implemented and continue to meet all requirements.
Connections with other forms of transport
We will provide information at our station about use of other modes of accessible transport in Greater Manchester. Detailed information can also be found on our website https://tfgm.com/accessible-travel
Our station staff will be happy to assist customers to taxi ranks at the station and also to other forms of transport such as buses where these can be easily accessed from the station. Please visit www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations which provides information about taxis and buses from all stations on the rest of the national rail network.
We display information in the ticket office on local taxi firms who can provide wheelchair accessible taxis. Our staff are also happy to book a taxi for you.
Delays, Diversions and Disruption:
We recognise that disruption to facilities and services can have a significant impact on your journey and on your confidence to travel. Should disruption occur we will do everything we can to ensure that you are able to continue your journey and not be left stranded.
At the station, if your journey plans are affected by a station service disruption (such as train cancellations), our station staff will help you plan an alternative route; or new connections; or endeavor to arrange alternative travel arrangements free of charge depending on the circumstances.
If you have booked assistance in advance through Passenger Assist but because of service disruption it is no longer valid, Northern Trains will contact you to make any appropriate arrangements such as rebooking alternative assistance. Whether the disruption is minor or severe, we are committed to providing you with regular, clear and accurate information.
If any of our facilities are not available for a time, we will make every effort to provide alternative arrangements. Online customer information will be updated, and notices will be displayed at the station advising of the situation and the expected duration. Our station colleagues are charged with ensuring that if there are any changes that might impair the accessibility of our facilities these are notified to National Rail so that they can update the information on their website (within 2 hours).
5. Information points, help points and Contact Centres
At our ticket office, customers are able to get all the information they need to plan their journey from one source. Outside ticket office operating hours customers are advised to use help points, which are clearly signposted and located on each platform.
Timetables, Posters, Information Leaflets:
Timetables, posters and information leaflets are accessible across the station. They are signposted and located in prominent positions on the platform at the station. They contain
up-to-date information on timetables, fares, connections, delay repay, planned disruption, diversions and emergencies and help arrangements for those who have booked Passenger Assist. Our designated meeting point (located inside the ticket office during operating hours and outside the ticket office when closed). Information about the services and facilities of other operators calling at the station and the accessibility of other transport available near the station is also displayed.
Our station guide will be available at the station in hard copy on a wheelchair accessible display at the ticket office. We will also have Northern Trains passenger leaflet available.
Please note that the ATP documents are available on the TfGM website as pdf documents. Alternative formats can be requested free of charge (such as braille, larger text). See website for details: https://tfgm.com/accessible-travel.
We will ensure the following is carried out during station opening hours:
- Provide information at Horwich Parkway within the ticket office, signpost them clearly and put them in an obvious position on, or close to, the concourse.
- We will clearly mark the ticket office as the best place for our customers to seek advice. We will design and equip them, so they are easy for everyone to use.
- Put information such as leaflets and timetables at a height that is accessible to all customers.
- Use the ticket office to share information on timetables, fares, connections and confirmation of any help arrangements that have been made through Passenger Assist.
- Make it easy for customers to get information about Horwich Parkway facilities, services and accessibility. We will do this using the most up-to-date technology and media as well as more traditional channels such as information points, station ticket offices, by telephone and on the internet.
- Make sure that staff at the ticket office are giving the most up-to-date information to all customers. That includes information about other train operators’ services and facilities, as well as the accessibility of other transport modes. We train our staff to find information from another source if they cannot answer a question immediately.
- Give real-time information at Horwich Parkway as its communicated. This includes timetables and information about delays, diversions and any other events that may affect passengers’ journeys.
Station Staff based at the Ticket Office:
Our station staff are based at the ticket office and are available to assist. Our ticket office is open 06:20 - 19:35 Monday to Saturday and these are the times when TfGM staff will be on hand to assist. Our station staff have access to, and will be able to provide information on, timetables, fares, connections, other transport and station facilities as well as assistance updates you have booked. Outside of this, customers should either seek advice from the help points or Northern Trains train staff.
Information Help Points:
If you need to speak to a member of staff outside of the station ticket office operating hours there are stand-alone ‘Help Points’ at the station on each platform, in yellow. These are the standard two-button models which are answered by Northern Trains colleagues who can assist with station and train queries.
Button 1 (Identified with “Information” in Green) is for train information and passenger assistance;
Button 2 (Identified with “Emergency” in Red) is for emergency situations etc.
The Help Points are designed to be accessible to all; they include induction loop technology to assist those using hearing aids.
Telephone Phone Contact Information:
Both National rail enquiries and Northern Trains provide a text relay number for their assistance services: National rail enquiries: 0845 60 50 600 Northern trains: 18001 0800 138 5560
6. Websites
We monitor and improve our website to make it more inclusive and accessible to everyone. This includes ensuring our website is designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use it easily (such as those with a visual or physical impairment), examples include:
- providing text alternatives to visual content like pictures and diagrams
- not relying on colour alone to distinguish between two elements
- allowing the user to change the size of the text
- ensuring the site works equally well on all devices
- providing clear navigation
- presenting readable and understandable content
We have one entire page on our website dedicated to providing you with all the assisted travel information for Horwich Parkway station. On this page you will be able to find out information on passenger assist, how to book assistance on the national rail network, details of accessibility information for the station, information on any temporary disruption and how you can get in touch to provide feedback or make a complaint.
We also signpost the accessibility services managed by Northern Trains who operate the trains which call at our station
How to claim redress for failed assistance
Information about how to claim redress for failed assistance is available on our website, in our passenger leaflet, and at Horwich Parkway Station. We ensure this process is clearly promoted and easy to access for all passengers: https://tfgm.com/accessibility/guides/train-accessibility
7. Ticketing and fares
Tickets for your journey can be purchased in several different ways:
At the station:
- In person from our ticket office.
- From our self-service ticket machine on platform 1, where you will be able to use your Disabled Persons Railcard.
If you are at home or out and about:
- From the various train operators’ or retailers’ websites.
- www.nationalrail.co.uk or approved agent.
All customers are expected to have a valid ticket or other authority to travel before starting their journey as some train operators operate a penalty fare system. However, if you are unable to buy a ticket at the station before your journey due to the ticket office being closed and the self-service ticket machine(s) being unavailable, you will be able to purchase a ticket either on-board the train or upon arrival at your destination station.
Disabled Persons Railcard
The Disabled Persons Railcard offers discounts on a range of tickets to disabled customers whether they are travelling alone or accompanied. Your railcard will allow you, and an adult companion travelling with you, to obtain a 1/3 discount off most Standard and First Class
fares throughout Great Britain. The Disabled Persons Railcard leaflet published by the Rail Delivery Group gives details of this railcard and can be obtained from any staffed station or from the Rail Delivery Group website at: https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/our-services/about-my-journey.html
Concessionary fares available without a Disabled Persons Railcard
Customers who need to stay in their own wheelchair during their journey; or are registered blind or visually impaired and travelling with a companion
are entitled to the following full fare ticket discounts throughout Great Britain even if they do not hold a Disabled Persons Railcard:
- 34% discount on First Class/Standard Anytime Day Singles
- 50% discount on First Class/Standard Anytime Day Returns
- 34% discount for First Class/Standard Anytime Singles or Returns
An adult travelling with you is also entitled to the discounted fare. If you have a visual impairment, please take a document from a recognised body such as Social Services or your Local Authority confirming your impairment when buying your ticket from the ticket office (unfortunately this cannot be purchased from the ticket machine) and when travelling. Please note that visually impaired customers cannot claim this discount if travelling alone.
Concessionary travel entitlement for Greater Manchester residents
If you are disabled, and resident within Greater Manchester, you could be eligible for a pass that gives you free and low-cost travel in Greater Manchester and the rest of England under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme. Depending on your disability, you could qualify for either a travel pass for disabled people or a travel plus pass for disabled people.
More information is available at https://tfgm.com/tickets-and-passes/passes-for-disabled-people
Customers who hold a travel pass for disabled people can travel for free on trains within Greater Manchester on journeys scheduled to run at or after 9.30am, Monday to Friday, and all day at weekends and on public holidays.
If you travel outside of these times you must pay for a concessionary fare where available or otherwise the full adult fare. Find information on concessionary fares at https://tfgm.com/tickets-and-passes
Customers who hold a travel plus pass for disabled people can travel for free on trains within Greater Manchester at all times.
8. Scooters and mobility aids
Please see Northern Trains for their policy on scooters and mobility aids from their website:
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/mobilityscooter
9. Delays, disruptions and emergencies
Disruption to facilities and services can have a big impact on both the accessibility of rail services to disabled customers and, more importantly, on their confidence in travelling by rail and other modes of public transport.
When we do get disruption to services (and this is inevitable unfortunately), we do everything we can to ensure that our customers can continue their journey and are not left stranded and our staff have been trained to recognise those with specific accessibility needs.
Our aim is that all our customers travel by the method of public transport they were expecting to; however, we recognise that this is sometimes not be possible due to engineering or unplanned disruption.
If booking assistance in advance and there is disruption, the alternate options will be discussed with you when you call to book your assistance. In most circumstances you will be provided with alternative accessible transport free of charge between stations when:
a) rail station is not physically accessible to you.
b) where substitute transport that is provided to replace the rail service is not accessible to you (e.g. due to emergency or planned engineering works).
c) short notice disruption makes services inaccessible to you.
At Horwich Parkway we work with our industry partners to make sure that all our customers have suitable alternative transport, whether they have pre-booked assistance or not. We have an expectation that our transport providers convey you to or from the nearest or most convenient accessible rail station so you can make as much of your journey as possible by the transport mode you were expecting.
During service disruption, our staff will provide spoken updates during station opening hours, while visual information will be displayed on customer information screens to guide passengers to rail replacement services. For planned disruption, details about rail replacement arrangements will also be shared in advance on our website, so passengers can plan their journey before travelling
Where there is a rail replacement service, Northern Trains will provide this service at our station. If the rail replacement is inaccessible, we will work with Northern Trains to ensure an accessible substitute is provided, such as an accessible taxi.
If there is disruption at our station, and you have booked assistance in advance, the operator whom you booked assistance with – usually Northern Trains, will contact you via the details you have provided them with and will discuss alternative arrangements.
When disruption occurs with no advance warning, we will provide alternative accessible transport to take you to the nearest accessible station at no additional cost to the fare for your entire journey. Our staff will discuss what type of transport you need before booking
Individual train operators publish information about planned engineering works on their respective websites as does Network Rail and it is also available on the National Rail website: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/currentAndFuture.aspx.
Emergency procedures
We have emergency plans for evacuating Horwich Parkway station in an emergency. Our colleagues take specific responsibilities for identifying and helping disabled customers evacuate to a point of safety. Our evacuation arrangements comply with the station’s fire certificate, as well as providing accessible refuge places
We encourage customers to provide feedback on their personal experience of help available at Horwich Parkway, including during times of disruption. Full details of how to communicate feedback can be found at https://tfgm.com/contact
If customers notice a problem they can speak to someone through a variety of ways; our station staff, Northern Trains train staff, help points or contacting the customer service team.
Building works
From time to time, and particularly during redevelopment works, we may need to change the facilities available to customers at our station’s facilities. If this happens, we will provide reasonable replacement facilities that are as inclusive and accessible as possible.
Similarly, where building works disrupt the usual access route to and from a station, we will provide appropriate alternative routes. We will also make sure that third parties who are undertaking works near Horwich Parkway maintain an appropriate access route to the station.
10. Station facilities
Within the TfGM area, car parking is free at the majority of the stations in the area. Should you arrive at a fee-paying car park, Blue Badge holders can park free of charge; this applies to all our tram, rail station(s) and park & ride car parks. If a designated parking space is unavailable, Blue Badge holders may park free of charge in any other non-restricted parking
space in the car park. Badges must be correctly displayed as our car park managing agent, or local staff, normally monitor appropriate use. Illegally parked vehicles are reported to the British Transport Police.
We also ensure that parking for those with mobility impairments is in accessible locations, generally as close to the station as practicable possible.
We use all reasonable endeavors to comply with the Department for Transport Code of Practice regarding the requirement in the number of Blue Badge parking bays provided at tram and rail stations. Where the provision and occupancy of designated spaces in our car parks are fewer than specified in the Code, we survey these car parks to ensure disabled and elderly people are not disadvantaged, we currently have 14 blue badge spaces at Horwich Parkway Station.
11. Redress
When booked assistance fails at Horwich Parkway Station, TfGM will provide appropriate redress to the customer, determined on a case-by-case basis. Redress may include an apology, a gesture of goodwill, financial compensation, or other remedies, depending on the individual circumstances and impact. There is no cap or fixed limit on compensation; each case will be assessed on its merits. TfGM will explain to the passenger why assistance was not provided and what steps have been taken to prevent recurrence. The process for making a claim is simple, straightforward, and clearly promoted to passengers via our website, passenger leaflet, and station signage. For multi-leg journeys involving other operators, TfGM will coordinate with the relevant operator to ensure a single, coordinated response.
If you wish to make a claim, there are several ways you can contact us:
In person to any member of our station staff. Our staff have been trained to receive and pass on complaints.
Via e-mail to TfGM: Customer.Relations@tfgm.com
In writing to the Customer Relations team:
Customer Relations Contact Centre.
Transport for Greater Manchester,
2 Piccadilly Place,
Manchester,
M1 3BG
If the customer wishes to complain about the services at Horwich Parkway, we recommend they should talk to one of our team onsite about the issue or problem. They will do their best to resolve your complaint. Our Complaints Handling Passenger Document is available on our website or from our station.
However, if the station is unstaffed or if the customer is not satisfied with the response, then we would direct the complaint to our Customer Services Team.
If the customer has a complaint about the assistance booked as part a journey through Horwich Parkway, but with another operator. Please contact Northern Trains.
B - Strategy and Management
12. Strategy
MAKING STAFF AWARE OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES
As part of the long-term vision for accessibility at Horwich Parkway Station, we are committed to ensuring that the needs of all customers are met by our ticket office staff. Ongoing training (such as improving customer interaction and ensuring staff are able to assist all customers) will form a part of any future improvement work for services and facilities. We are able to work with lived experience groups, engaging with them to review how staff training is delivered, where necessary - see our website for further details. https://tfgm.com/accessibility/accessibility-groups
13. Management arrangements
TfGM aim to provide a high standard of customer support as set out in this document and as such integrate this document fully into our day-to-day activities.
TfGM have a designated Duty Manager who has the overall accountability to ensure we deliver our ATP commitments, with the Network Director Rail holding ultimate accountability.
We will integrate our ATP’s objectives into business plans and project planning.
During our projects’ design phase, we will consult our Disability Design Reference Group (see Monitoring and Evaluation section 14) supported, where appropriate, by specialist consultants to advise us on how the project will affect Horwich Parkway’s inclusivity and accessibility through an Equalities Impact Assessment both during and after the construction work.
14. Monitoring and evaluation and working with disabled passengers, local communities and local authorities
How we deliver services and facilities to our customers is continuously monitored and evaluated to make sure we meet both the standards outlined and our commitment to constant improvement. There are daily infrastructure checks taking place and faults are flagged and attended to.
We track the percentage of assistance bookings delivered on time and use this data to improve performance. As part of our ATP review, we share key improvement actions with the ORR.
Monitoring redress claims: TfGM will monitor redress claims and outcomes, and report key actions and performance data to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) as part of our ATP review process. This ensures ongoing compliance and continuous improvement in supporting passengers.
The rail industry also undertakes a National Rail Passenger Survey which includes questions about stations. We will track and monitor Horwich Parkway’s performance with this survey to help us improve our service to our customers.
We also encourage our customers to provide feedback on their personal experience of our facilities and service levels at Horwich Parkway. It is important to us to both recognise good service and to provide an effective means of communicating and resolving any problems as quickly as possible. This can be done through numerous channels including our own website and our social media accounts.
TfGM is committed to providing the ORR with performance data to demonstrate we are complying with the obligations to passengers in relation to our ATP.
Working with disabled passengers, local communities and local authorities:
We will embed these principles and approach when making important decisions for our transport network, building on the success of our work with accessibility groups (DDRG) https://tfgm.com/accessibility/accessibility-groups. They will be consulted on the delivery of our ATP commitments and any changes we make that impact accessibility.
GREATER MANCHESTER DISABILITY DESIGN REFERENCE GROUP
The Disability Design Reference Group (DDRG), established in 2008, is TfGM's pan-disability advisory group and is coordinated by Breakthrough UK. It brings together disabled people from across Greater Manchester who provide lived experience insight to help ensure TfGM delivers an inclusive, barrier free transport network. The group represents a wide range of impairments and demographics, contributing through formal quarterly meetings, task and finish activities, site visits and review sessions. Their input has shaped the design and operation of Metrolink, the wider Bee Network, customer information, new interchanges, vehicle design and a variety of accessibility improvements across public transport and active travel. As Bee Network Rail is introduced, the DDRG will have further opportunity for increased involvement and influence across rail programmes to help embed a consistent approach to accessibility across all modes and stages of planning, design and delivery.
15. Access improvements
We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible public transport system which gives disabled people the same opportunities to travel as other members of society.
We believe that to be successful Horwich Parkway must be accessible and reflect the needs of the community it serves. By using innovative tools such as the Customer and Community Intermodal Insight Programme (CCIP) we will build our understanding of the surrounding communities which will allow us to tailor the service and facilities offered at Horwich Parkway. We will comply with Persons with Reduced Mobility – PRM-TSI (1300/2014) Code to ensure the accessibility for persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility.
We will also comply with the PRM TSI and the Joint Code when we are installing or refurbishing station and interchange facilities. This means we will make every effort to comply and, if it is not possible, then we will apply for dispensations against the Code.
16. Staff training
To implement our ATP we need to train all our staff properly. Currently we give all our ‘frontline’ station staff intensive customer service training.
All our station staff also receive specific disability awareness training including on how to support customers with less visible or non-visible, disabilities.
We plan to carry out a review of our current TfGM training policy to ensure it meets the Accessible Travel Policy Guidance training requirements. Any new station employees will
receive the appropriate training as part of induction to the new role.
Our staff awareness and training is a big part of achieving this document’s aims. Therefore, TfGM will commit to the following to increase awareness and upskill via training staff who have the relevant role or responsibility for Rail. TfGM will:
- Give all staff who are in a customer facing role (who either work at Horwich Park permanently or provide cover to those permanent roles) disability awareness training to make sure they know their responsibilities to customers.
- Give all staff who are in a customer facing role (who either work at Horwich Park permanently or provide cover to those permanent roles) appropriate training on how to use equipment like ramps, wheelchairs and induction loops. This will be delivered locally.
- Give all staff who are in a customer facing role ( who either work at Horwich Park permanently or provide cover to those permanent roles) appropriate training on how to communicate and help passengers who may have a range of different disabilities. This will include training at a local level for any staff who use telephones detailing the appropriate way to communicate with those customers that may have difficulty in speaking, hearing and/ or understanding.
- All our new employees have to participate in the above training within two months of joining TfGM. – Do we design this training or is it Northern
- We will encourage third parties, such as our retail partners at Horwich Parkway, who employ staff working on our station to provide training programmes for their own staff.