Overview
- Great British Railways announced on Tuesday that unassisted level boarding will be the baseline expectation for new publicly‑run trains wherever feasible.
- The government said the move will be backed by almost £280 million for the Access for All step‑free programme, with more than 30 schemes already under way across England, Scotland and Wales.
- Officials said costs should usually be limited because new trains will be built to match standard Network Rail platform heights from the start, and recent Alstom trains for Greater Anglia and Merseyrail were cited as examples.
- Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander also confirmed that Avanti West Coast services will transfer to public control from March 2027 as part of a wider rolling stock and infrastructure strategy that centralises procurement and maintenance under GBR.
- The change targets long‑standing barriers such as platform–train gaps that block independent travel for disabled people, parents with pushchairs and older passengers, but it applies only to new or newly procured publicly‑run trains and will require further platform or fleet work at many locations.