RSSB2667 - Rail Accessibility Competition Brief

RSSB is utilising Contracts Finder to advertise a Grant Competition.

Please follow the instructions contained within the attached document to this Notice.

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Introduction and Background Analysis of the National Travel Survey has highlighted that disabled people are less likely to make trips by rail than the rest of the population. Only one percent of all trips taken by disabled people aged 16-69 years includes rail, compared with over five per cent of journeys made by non-disabled people. The Department for Transport (DfT) in its draft Accessibility Action Plan (currently under consultation until 15th November 2017) recognised the need to take further steps to improve rail accessibility cost-effectively, and to do more for people with less visible impairments.

As part of the Accessibility Action Plan, the DfT is funding this Rail Accessibility Competition which is being run by RSSB. The aim of the competition is to find innovative solutions for disabled people that will help improve their overall access to the railway.

The competition focuses on two distinct themes:

• Theme 1: Physical accessibility • Theme 2: Improving access to rail for people with less visible impairments The competition is open to any organisations or individuals with potential solutions. Proposals may provide solutions focussing on a particular user group or provide solutions for generic issues addressing multiple user groups. Solutions are likely to have the potential to be applied across significant portions of the rail network, and not be a specific solution for a particular organisation or location. Collaborative proposals are welcome, in particular proposals including one or more of the following: train operators, infrastructure managers, suppliers, solution providers and charities or passenger groups are encouraged. Aims and objectives The aims of this competition are to stimulate ideas for innovation that will potentially: • Support execution of the Accessibility Action Plan. • Identify cost-effective, innovative solutions to improve physical access to and at stations. • Enable disabled passengers to travel unassisted and to use rail to travel more frequently. • Encourage the use of new technologies as an enabler for disabled people, rather than as a new form of exclusion. • Identify solutions for improving access to rail for those with less visible impairments (these are likely to be IT based). • Encourage engagement between suppliers, TOCs and charities to develop solutions that address the specific needs of disabled people. Competition scope Theme 1: Physical accessibility This theme will focus on improving physical access to and at stations. Examples may include, but are not limited to: • Lower cost solutions to improve access for passengers with mobility impairments via: - Improved physical access to the station itself and facilities contained within it - More cost-effective solutions to lifts and stairs within the station