A ScotRail employee has spoken out about frustrations shared by colleagues over the company's alleged lack of care for disability access.
Glasgow Live previously ran a story about Joanna McCool, a young disabled woman from Glasgow who had to be carried off a ScotRail train after the only wheelchair accessible carriage didn't open its doors at her station. Ramps have also been removed from a large number of stations, meaning that Joanna was left mortified as no conductor was around to help, meaning the 29-year-old had to be carried to another carriage and off the train.
Since then, a ScotRail employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, has spoken to Glasgow Live of their anger at the company, as they say incidents such as Joanna's are blamed on staff error rather than the company's failure.
READ MORE: Disabled woman carried from Glasgow train carriage blasts Scotrail for 'removing ramps'
The employee, who has worked for the company for 14 years, said: "ScotRail recently made a decision to remove ramps from many stations. The reason being that the current ramps had gone out of date and no longer adhered to safety requirements.
"Instead of updating those ramps ScotRail made the choice to save money instead and not bother replacing them, so just binned them. This has left stations and the already trained station staff with no ramps to assist passengers on to the trains. Regardless if the assistance is pre booked or not. The responsibility was then put onto the on train staff, i.e. ticket examiners to use the on train ramp.
"The issue with this new system is that ScotRail run many trains, in particular in the Strathclyde area, not with a conductor but a ticket examiner. Trains in Strathclyde can run with no on board staff. So, if a ticket examiner is delayed during disruption, sleeps in, is sick or has been held back due to operational issues their train will run without them and the only staff is the driver. The drivers do not do disabled assist. The ticket examiner could have his/her shift finish halfway through a train journey and a disabled passenger would need to travel alone or get off early.
"With the new system implemented there is a very high risk that disabled passengers will be left at stations or have to experience what Joanna has experienced. This is even though trained staff are at stations but no longer have the tools for the job. It will be extremely difficult for many disabled passengers to just decide to use the trains or even go to hospital for an appointment. This system could potentially lock many disabled passengers out of our railways as it can not be relied upon."
The removal of ramps from stations was part of a project driven by the industry regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
ScotRail was forced to withdraw the use of the previous friction ramps - which were universal to use on all its train fleet – as they did not meet the latest safety standard requiring the ramp to be secured to the train via locking pins to prevent them from moving.
The ScotRail employee added: " They (ScotRail) have decided to do without and are waiting for someone to invent an all purpose ramp so that saves them buying a ramp for each train. However, the ORR don't just change regulations over night. ScotRail has known about this change and failed to act to the changes with responsibility, most likely due to the fact that individuals do not want to be responsible for the cost. But at the end of the day, it's the staff and passengers that suffer.
"The company will claim the ORR changed the safety requirements on the old ramps and use that for the reasoning why they got removed, but that doesn't mean they can ignore investment in new equipment and just do without. They will also claim the new system meets regulations but that's only in theory and fails to account for the many issues being ignored as fixing them will cost time and money. Joanna and others being a perfect example of this.
"ScotRail was supposed to have a fresh start this year, away from the mistakes of Abellio, but the managers implemented by Abellio are still there making the same mistakes. This new way of working is cheap, lazy and will only mean that disabled passengers will lose out. A company such as ScotRail should not be going backwards on equality and respect.
"As a staff member I feel bitterly disappointed in this. Seeing Joanna having to suffer the way she did was very alarming. I have worked with ScotRail for 14 years and seen the work that has been made to help and promote travel for persons with disabilities but now that work is being eroded. People should not be made to feel differently because of a disability, it's almost as if the company think disabled people don't have time schedules, appointments to meet, jobs to go to. It's to be accepted they can wait for the next train or sent via a taxi. It's as if the company are treating them as a stereotype.
"It's very disheartening for us staff to tell the people we have been helping for years, that we can no longer do so at the same standard. We want ScotRail to be a success, it's our jobs.
"To make it worse, it's staff reputations that get dragged through the mud even though we want to help. Many people don't understand it's out of our control. Seeing situations like Joanna's is very concerning with regards to the direction the company is taking and the lack of understanding of front line issues. Seeing what happened to Joanna makes us angry, as we warned of this."
David Lister, ScotRail Safety, Engineering & Sustainability Director, said: “ScotRail is committed to making the railway open and accessible to all. This includes implementing any recommendations and requirements specified by ORR to enhance safety on Scotland’s Railway.
“We are installing new ramps at stations across Scotland, and have had to focus initially on stations that see the vast majority of our assisted travel journeys. This is due to the number of different ramps needed to be compatible with the different trains we operate.
“All ScotRail trains have a compatible ramp on board which meets ORR requirements, and we have processes in place for on-train staff to assist customers at stations where no ramp is present. I’m sorry that this process did not work as it should have when Ms McCool travelled with us, and we let her down.”
An ORR spokesperson confirmed that they had informed ScotRail of the changes required to the ramps at the beginning of this year but Joanna was told at her local station, Bellshill, that a notice had recently been circulated to stations that ramps would be removed from a number of stations from September 11.
The spokesperson said: “We spoke to ScotRail about ramps at the beginning of the year and will do so again to understand the circumstances as to why this occurred at the weekend.
“ScotRail chose to remove ramps from station platforms at all but the top 40 stations where most ramp deployment takes place.
“This was to ensure that ramps could be maintained correctly, which had previously been an issue. At all other locations the ramps on the trains are to be used because they are maintained at the same time as the trains, so should be in good condition.
“ScotRail have also told us that they would revise the training to all staff who may deploy a ramp to ensure that the requirement to secure the ramp to the train when in use was always met.
“We understand that this includes guards, and all relevant trains have guards rostered in their working patterns so there should always be a staff member who is capable of deploying the ramp.”
RMT regional organiser Mick Hogg branded the situation 'a disgrace' and blamed those at the top of the pecking order for the problems.
He said: "I saw the story about Joanna McCool earlier in the week and immediately sent it to ScotRail's Chief Executive, this is absolutely unacceptable. What has taken place here is a disgrace.
"This was supposed to be a new dawn for ScotRail as it was brought into public ownership but I believe this shows that industrial relationships are still toxic and that there is no difference from how it was ran in privatisation.
"It is a sad, sad thing that the people at the top are paid a king's ransom but things like this are happening. These people are in charge yet take no responsibility and it's a disgrace and embarrassment that Scotland's railway isn't accessible for all."
Transport Scotland provided the following statement to Glasgow Live: “Rail accessibility is a reserved matter and the removal of ramps from stations was driven by the industry regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) which is a UK Government Body. It is disappointing that the change in its regulation has had the practical effect of making accessible travel more difficult during the transition.
“We can never become complacent in this area as there is always room for improvement. We expect ScotRail to meet regularly with accessibility groups to listen to their concerns, get their feedback, and share ideas about how it can do better in this area”.
Glasgow Labour MSP, Paul Sweeney, said: "Sadly Joanna’s case will not be the only time that an individual with accessibility issues has suffered a humiliating experience while trying to travel on public transport in Scotland. It’s absolutely shameful, and Joanna should be receiving an unreserved apology from ScotRail management and from the Scottish Government who have allowed services to be degraded to this extent.
“The case highlights the importance of having conductors on every single train, something ScotRail have tried repeatedly to stop from happening through ‘efficiency savings’, and it emphasises a fundamental problem with our transport system – it is inaccessible for thousands of people across Scotland. Trade unions have repeatedly warned that reductions to services, and reductions to staff numbers would lead to appalling situations like the one that Joanna faced. They have not been listened to, and I truly hope Joanna’s case shines a light on the important role train conductors play on our railways.
“We now have a railway that is in public ownership, so this isn’t an issue the Scottish Government can brush aside. We need a firm commitment that they will now do everything in their power to ensure this never happens again and that they will reverse the cuts we have seen in recent years. Only then can we be sure that Joanna and thousands of others like her can travel on our railways confident that they will be treated equally to everyone else.”
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