Access Information

Northern Rail Say...

In reply to a letter from New Mills Access asking Northern rail about their plans to improve access at the local stations, Northern Rail gave the following reply...

"Northern Rail, along with all other train operators can offer assistance for passengers at most staffed stations, to enable passengers to travel freely, regardless of any additional needs. All that we ask, is that you telephone our phone number 0845 600 1159, 24 hours prior to travelling and our dedicated team will book the necessary assistance and offer any advice as necessary.

"If you cannot contact us within this time window we will endeavour to accommodate you by contacting the relevant stations direct. This usually works fine, however due to the informality of the process we cannot guarantee assistance will be provided. Station staff may already have other disabled passengers booked at the station at the same time, or be dealing with service disruption or related problems and not be always able to answer the telephone.

"If the station is staffed, but unable to provide assistance during staffing hours or unseated and inaccessible, we will offer free taxi transport to a suitable alternative.

"Out of station opening times or at unseated stations, no assistance can be given, however all our trains have ramps and conductors will assist disabled passengers from the train onto the station platform. We also have a detailed database of station accessibility and many of our stations have level or ramped access from the platform to the station entrance."

Street Crossings

Where two traffic-light crossings are close together, as at the junction of Albion, Union and Church roads in New Mills, they do not have beepers to alert visually impaired people when the road is clear to cross, as these signals might be confused. Instead, under the box containing the press-button, there is a knurled knob which can be felt to rotate when the signals are set to allow crossing.

The Road Safety department at Derbyshire County Council, (Tel 01629 580000 ext 7064), can help with enquiries about street accessibility and safety; the Street Lighting department can also deal with broken or faulty crossing lights.