There are a number of pieces of legislation surrounding rail vehicle accessibility in Great Britain. There are two separate regimes in operation which are summarised below (see Rail Vehicles for more information).

Hard copies of all the following statutory instruments and Acts below are available from The Stationery Office.

For further information, please contact us at railvehicleaccess@dft.gsi.gov.uk.

Heavy Rail Vehicles

The following legislation governs the accessibility of heavy rail vehicles (trains) used on Network Rail infrastructure. The regime, which is derived from Europe-wide legislation, was introduced in 2008 and replaced existing domestic requirements which have been in place since 1998.

• The Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1746)
• The Technical Specification for Interoperability for Persons with Reduced Mobility 2007 (Commission Decision 21/XII/2007)
• The Railways (Interoperability) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/3386)
• The Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/397)

Light Rail Vehicles

The following legislation governs the accessibility of light rail vehicles (metro, underground and tram systems and trains, including heritage and tourist vehicles, which are not used on Network Rail infrastructure). The regime has been in place since 1998 and was substantially revised and updated in 2010.

• Equality Act 2010
• The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Non Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/432)
• The Rail Vehicle (Applications for Exemption Orders) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/427)

Previous legislation

The following legislation has previously been in force in this area but has subsequently been revoked and replaced.

• The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (c.13)
• The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (c.50)
• The Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Amendment) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/3215) (PDF – 59 KB)
• The Rail Vehicle (Exemption Applications) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/2457)
• The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/2456)

Related information

The following are links to other pages of this web site which contain related information.

• Exemptions – Secretary of State’s Annual Reports to Parliament
• Rail Vehicle Accessibility Exemption Orders