Andrew Mitchell MP has written to West Midlands Railway to ask the company to ensure that local stations across the Royal Town are made safer for passengers with sight loss.

Blake Street, Four Oaks and Butlers Lane stations don’t have warning tactile surfaces on the edge of their platforms. Warning tactile surfaces are vital to help those with sight loss orientate their way around platforms and help warn blind and partially sighted people when they are close to a platform edge. In Sutton Coldfield station while some surfaces have been improved, the tactile surfaces do not cover the entire length of all platform edges.

In February 2020, a visually impaired passenger had a fatal accident after falling from the platform edge at a station in South East London and was struck by an approaching train. The RAIB investigation found that “The platform edge was not fitted with tactile surface markings intended to assist visually impaired people. This is a possible causal factor”.

Andrew Mitchell said, “I have written to West Midlands railway to ask the company to improve accessibility for passengers with sight loss. It is welcome that a significant amount of investment is improving local trains and bringing new carriages onto the network, however we must ensure that stations are accessible and safe. Improving platform safety and ensuring that tactile edges are installed would make a huge difference to those living with sight loss and I urge West Midlands Railway to make improvements to ensure that stations right across our local network are safe for those with sight loss.”