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Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway

Charles Musselwhite Orcid Logo, Kelly Roberts

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Volume: 22, Issue: 2, Pages: 114 - 129

Swansea University Authors: Charles Musselwhite Orcid Logo, Kelly Roberts

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DOI (Published version): 10.1108/qaoa-02-2021-0015

Abstract

PurposeAgainst a backdrop in an increase in the number of older people in the United Kingdom (UK) and an increase in the amount of travel per person for this age group, the number of older people using the railway is in decline. This investigation is a first step towards ascertaining why through aud...

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Published in: Quality in Ageing and Older Adults
ISSN: 1471-7794
Published: Emerald 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa57687
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spelling 2021-11-05T16:56:56.2669196 v2 57687 2021-08-24 Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway c9a49f25a5adb54c55612ae49560100c 0000-0002-4831-2092 Charles Musselwhite Charles Musselwhite true false 5c9aa462c4c96e72451c40c15cd19a2a Kelly Roberts Kelly Roberts true false 2021-08-24 PHAC PurposeAgainst a backdrop in an increase in the number of older people in the United Kingdom (UK) and an increase in the amount of travel per person for this age group, the number of older people using the railway is in decline. This investigation is a first step towards ascertaining why through audits of issues and problems on rolling stock and station platforms. DesignRolling stock and station audits were carried out by older people across a rail network in the South West of the UK. A total of 72.2 hours of auditing took place across different sizes of station and different types of rolling stock. FindingsTwo main themes were found across both rolling stock and station audits, accessibility and information provision. With regards to accessibility, boarding and especially alighting from the train was the key issue. Across stations and in rolling stock luminance a key issue for older people, including places being too dark or moving from places that were bright to dark. Use of stairs at stations between platforms, especially when the station is crowded was an issue. In terms of information, key issues were found with signage being too cluttered, small, hidden and inconsistent and audible announcements being difficult to decipher. ImplicationsThere must be improvements made to railways to help older people feel more safe and secure using them. It is suggested step free and level accessibility is found boarding and alighting from the train, but also from station entrance to carriage. Better signage is needed throughout the station and on trains, with large repeated fonts used. Lighting needs to be revisited throughout to ensure areas are githr and well lit both on station platforms and onboard. Further research needs to look at these findings in relation to slip, trips and fall accident rates. There is very little research on older people’s perceptions and barriers to railway use. This adds value in being one of the only studies to do so, and from the perspective of older people themselves. Journal Article Quality in Ageing and Older Adults 22 2 114 129 Emerald 1471-7794 ageing, railway, public transport, railway station, mobility, accessibility, information provision 11 10 2021 2021-10-11 10.1108/qaoa-02-2021-0015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/qaoa-02-2021-0015 COLLEGE NANME Public Health COLLEGE CODE PHAC Swansea University Other Great Western Railway 2021-11-05T16:56:56.2669196 2021-08-24T17:44:29.5937622 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences The Centre for Innovative Ageing Charles Musselwhite 0000-0002-4831-2092 1 Kelly Roberts 2 57687__20699__c11ac43691ec418780af537e42714863.pdf Musselwhite Roberts 2021 barriers to an age friendly railway.pdf 2021-08-24T17:46:48.5026872 Output 1251496 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true true eng Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial International Licence 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0)
title Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway
spellingShingle Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway
Charles Musselwhite
Kelly Roberts
title_short Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway
title_full Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway
title_fullStr Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway
title_full_unstemmed Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway
title_sort Accessibility and informational barriers to an age friendly railway
author_id_str_mv c9a49f25a5adb54c55612ae49560100c
5c9aa462c4c96e72451c40c15cd19a2a
author_id_fullname_str_mv c9a49f25a5adb54c55612ae49560100c_***_Charles Musselwhite
5c9aa462c4c96e72451c40c15cd19a2a_***_Kelly Roberts
author Charles Musselwhite
Kelly Roberts
author2 Charles Musselwhite
Kelly Roberts
format Journal article
container_title Quality in Ageing and Older Adults
container_volume 22
container_issue 2
container_start_page 114
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 1471-7794
doi_str_mv 10.1108/qaoa-02-2021-0015
publisher Emerald
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str The Centre for Innovative Ageing{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}The Centre for Innovative Ageing
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/qaoa-02-2021-0015
document_store_str 1
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description PurposeAgainst a backdrop in an increase in the number of older people in the United Kingdom (UK) and an increase in the amount of travel per person for this age group, the number of older people using the railway is in decline. This investigation is a first step towards ascertaining why through audits of issues and problems on rolling stock and station platforms. DesignRolling stock and station audits were carried out by older people across a rail network in the South West of the UK. A total of 72.2 hours of auditing took place across different sizes of station and different types of rolling stock. FindingsTwo main themes were found across both rolling stock and station audits, accessibility and information provision. With regards to accessibility, boarding and especially alighting from the train was the key issue. Across stations and in rolling stock luminance a key issue for older people, including places being too dark or moving from places that were bright to dark. Use of stairs at stations between platforms, especially when the station is crowded was an issue. In terms of information, key issues were found with signage being too cluttered, small, hidden and inconsistent and audible announcements being difficult to decipher. ImplicationsThere must be improvements made to railways to help older people feel more safe and secure using them. It is suggested step free and level accessibility is found boarding and alighting from the train, but also from station entrance to carriage. Better signage is needed throughout the station and on trains, with large repeated fonts used. Lighting needs to be revisited throughout to ensure areas are githr and well lit both on station platforms and onboard. Further research needs to look at these findings in relation to slip, trips and fall accident rates. There is very little research on older people’s perceptions and barriers to railway use. This adds value in being one of the only studies to do so, and from the perspective of older people themselves.
published_date 2021-10-11T04:13:36Z
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