Regarding your article “Britain’s rolling stock is 21 years old on average” (28 December), I would argue that accessibility for disabled people travelling on trains is of a similar age. The staff are fantastic but the accessibility of the rolling stock is not. I am a wheelchair user who regularly travels by train. When I travel, I must book assistance to help me on and off trains. At peak times this assistance does not always happen. I mention this because in Berlin, much of the rail system provides level access on to the trains. This enables wheelchair users who can to use the train independently. This is something I hope will be looked at in the new design of trains and stations.
I regularly use both the east and west coast mainlines to visit family. My partner and I are both in electric wheelchairs and cannot transfer to companion seats. Most carriages only have a single wheelchair space so we can’t sit together. With innovative design, train companies could have dual-purpose spaces that allow for wheelchair users when needed and can also be accessed by non-disabled passengers when there are no wheelchair users travelling. This would enable multiple wheelchair users to travel together.
The DfT spokesman mentioned the biggest modernisation programme in a century to improve the number of seats and Wi-Fi access. It should also address disabled access, or disabled people will continue to receive a standard class service on what will be a first-class railway system.
Mark Cooper
Edinburgh
• I wanted to take the opportunity to respond to a number of points raised by an anonymous Servest employee (I’m a cleaner on GWR trains. We’re striking because we’re treated unfairly, theguardian.com, 21 December). The work done by Servest teams to make sure our trains are clean, presentable and comfortable is very important to us and our customers, and is just as important that their staff are properly rewarded for the work they do.
The relationship between Servest and its employees should rightly be between them but GWR is not an uninterested party here, and we have built a number of key protections into our contracts with suppliers to make sure their staff are treated fairly and with respect. For example, staff of contractors cleaning GWR trains (and any agency staff working on their behalf) must receive the living wage – or the London living wage where appropriate – as a minimum standard. In addition, they receive at least 28 days’ paid leave a year, zero-hours contracts are banned, and we give each of them five days’ free travel on our trains a year.
We have been very clear that Servest and the RMT need to work together to resolve the current dispute, and we will be meeting with the Servest management team in the new year to discuss how we can support any discussions they have had with their employee representatives.
We are determined that this action does not impact on our customers’ experience and we have worked closely with Servest to put alternative arrangements in place should the strike action go ahead.
Andrew Mellors
Deputy managing director, Great Western Railway
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