New fully accessible toilet rises from the ashes at Meadowhall station
A new fully accessible toilet is now open to the public at one of Northern’s busiest South Yorkshire stations.
The previous facilities were destroyed by a fire and the new toilet has been installed with features for people with seen and unseen disabilities.
The new fully accessible toilet has been designed to cater to the needs of all customers, with baby changing facilities, grab rails and an audio description for customers with visual impairments.
Customers can access the toilet via a radar key, a train ticket QR code, or video access linked directly to Northern's 24hr customer contact centre.
To ensure maximum safety, the new toilet also features user-activated multiple distress cords and low-level panic buttons.
Tony Baxter, regional director at Northern, said: "We're delighted to announce the opening of the new accessible toilet at Meadowhall station.
"The facility has been designed to be fully accessible and we are committed to giving people the confidence to travel by rail. We want to support our customers whenever they need it.”
Part-funded by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s £166m Transforming Cities Fund, the new toilet is part of Northern's commitment to improving accessibility across its network and has been designed with help from accessibility and disability (including hidden) groups that have offered their expertise and guidance to ensure all needs are being met.
Other schemes include making another 38 stations across the train operator's network ‘mobility scooter-friendly’, bringing the total to more than 160 stations across 28 routes.
For more information and details about Northern's initiatives, please visit: www.northernrailway.co.uk/accessibility-hub
On Sunday 21 May, Northern’s new summer timetable comes into effect and all customers, especially those who have made regular journeys on the same train times, are advised to check before they travel. For more information, visit: www.northernrailway.co.uk/timetablechange
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.