Train accessibility for all

Andy Hadley has long been campaigning to improve the train service locally. A campaign has been running for over a decade in Boscombe, with activists and the local Councillors keen to see the lifts reinstated for passenger use.
We had a good meeting with Tom Hayes MP, Ward Councillors, Network Rail and Southwesten Railway team onside at Pokesdown for Boscombe Station to chase progress on the Access for All lifts, promised in the 2017 franchise, and taking a very long time to deliver.
We heard of the difficulties because the station is in a deep cutting, the complexities of delivery of materials by rail, the need for possession of the line (ie no trains passing through) whilst key work is being done.
Even after so long, what we didn’t really get was certainty on whether this can be achieved within budget, and when the public will get the operational lifts, but we will continue to work to press for urgency in resolving this long running saga, and I made the point that most of the other stations in the BCP Council area also don’t have step free access to all platforms, which we also need to see resolved.
Action to change anything on the railways always seems to be glacial, but we still hope to get this one solved.