The Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Furness Railway Trust North London Coach) Exemption Order 2003

Statutory Instruments

2003 No. 1436

DISABLED PERSONS

TRANSPORT

The Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Furness Railway Trust North London Coach) Exemption Order 2003

Made

3rd June 2003

Laid before Parliament

4th June 2003

Coming into force

1st July 2003

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by section 47(1), (3) and (4) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995(1), having consulted the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee and such other persons as he considered appropriate in accordance with section 47(3) of that Act, hereby makes the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Furness Railway Trust North London Coach) Exemption Order 2003 and shall come into force on 1st July 2003.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Order “the exempted vehicle” means the vehicle known as the former North London Railway 2nd class passenger coach as owned, rebuilt and operated by the Furness Railway Trust for use on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.

(2) Any reference in this Order to a numbered regulation is a reference to a regulation bearing that number in the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 1998(2).

Authorisation and exemption

3.—(1) The exempted vehicle is hereby authorised to be used for carriage even though it does not conform with those provisions of the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 1998 referred to in paragraph (2).

(2) The provisions with which the exempted vehicle is not required to conform are—

(a) regulation 4;

(b) regulation 6(1)(a);

(c) regulation 6(1)(b);

(d) regulation 6(1)(c);

(e) regulation 6(1)(d);

(f) regulation 6(1)(e);

(g) regulation 7(c);

(h) regulation 8;

(i) regulation 11(1)(a);

(j) regulation 11(2);

(k) regulation 12;

(l) regulation 13; and

(m) regulation 15.

4.  The authorisation given by article 3(1) shall cease forthwith if the exempted vehicle is—

(a) operated by a person other than the Furness Railway Trust; or

(b) operated on a route other than the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway in Cumbria,

unless the Secretary of State has been given written notice in advance specifying the name and address of that other person or place.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

David Jamieson

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Department for Transport

3rd June 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order authorises the use of the vehicle known as the former North London Railway 2nd class passenger coach as owned, rebuilt and operated by the Furness Railway Trust for use on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway in Cumbria, even though it does not comply with certain requirements of the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/2456, amended by S.I. 2000/3215) because:

• the colour of the exterior doors does not contrast with that of the vehicle body;

• no audible warning device is fitted to passenger doorways;

• the treads of the steps for use by passengers at the external doorways are not covered in slip-resistant material and do not have a band of colour on the front edge;

• the rear of the steps used by passengers at the external doorways is not closed by a vertical riser;

• the steps used by passengers at external doorways are not illuminated and do not conform to all of the required measurements of height and depth;

• the floor across the width of the doorways is not appropriately marked;

• the provision of priority seats for the use of disabled persons does not meet the required specification;

• there are no handrails on the interior side of the exterior passenger doorway;

• the external handrails do not meet the required specification;

• more force than is permitted is required to operate the door handles;

• there is no passenger information system; and

• there is no wheelchair space.

(1)

1995 c. 50.

(2)

S.I. 1998/2456, amended by S.I. 2000/3215.