Month: September 2024

Limited Exemption to A.I.R for Rail Replacement Coach Services Announced by DfT

Dear UKCOA Members,

We are pleased to inform you of a significant development following UKCOA’s stakeholder engagement with the Department for Transport (DfT).  After extensive discussions, Ministers have agreed to a limited-time exemption from the Accessible Information Regulations for Rail Replacement services operated by seated-only coaches until 31st July 2026.

This exemption provides much-needed flexibility for operators, allowing more time to adapt while still ensuring service continuity.  Please note that this exemption is temporary, and we will continue working with the DfT to explore longer-term solutions that balance accessibility requirements with operational feasibility.

In order to make the exemption Regulations by the 1st October, DfT need to receive completed application forms by 23:59 on Wednesday 25th September, and are unlikely to be able to accommodate late applications.

To qualify operators must:

  • Operate rail replacement services, or expect to operate rail replacement services before 31st July 2026; and
  • Either have not applied for the Accessible Information Grant or had their application for Accessible Information Grant funding rejected.
  • Use coaches designed and constructed for the carriage of seated passengers only, which is of category M2 or M3.

Full details of the exemption will be provided to successful applicants, but a summary provided by DfT states vehicles will be exempt from:

  1. The requirement to meet certain standards with respect to audible information, including the frequency range, minimum and maximum volume of announcements, and the requirement to provide information via audible induction loops for passengers who use hearing aids.
  2. The requirement to meet certain standards with respect to visible information, including the proportion of passenger seats which must be in direct line-of-sight of information, minimum text size and the requirement not to provide information solely using capital letters.
  3. The requirement to provide an “alert” before certain information, such as when the vehicle deviates from its standard route or when the service terminates.

All remaining aspects of AIR will still apply which includes:

  1. The requirement to provide information indicating the route and destination of the service, each upcoming scheduled stopping point, the termination of the service, the beginning of diversions and the beginning and end of “hail and ride” sections of route.
  2. The requirement for required information to be provided at specific points in a journey, albeit subject to slight modification to make it easier for onboard staff to provide such information manually when not driving.
  3. The requirement to provide information consistently using both audible and visible media.
  4. The requirement that information provision cannot rely on passengers possessing their own smartphone.

We can send you the guidance for eligibility and the application form that must be submitted by 23:59 on 25th September.

If you have any questions on the Accessible Information Regulations, or need assistance completing the application please contact:

Peter Bradley / Stephen Spendley

UK Coach Operators Association

[email protected]

0333 7333 222

SPEAKERS CORNER – 23 September 2024

Please be advised that Speakers Corner coach stop 14 (and other stops at Speaker’s Corner on Park Lane northbound) will be closed between 20:00 and 05:00 on the nights of 23, 24, 25 & 27 September 2024.

In addition to the closure of the stops lane restrictions will also be in place at this locations.

PORTMAN STREET – W1

For information: Overnight (20:00 to 05:00) closure of Portman Street and Oxford Street (Orchard Street to Marble Arch) on the nights of Monday 16, Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18th  September 2024.

Please note: Coaches over 12m in length can’t use the diversion route via Great Cumberland Place and Seymour Street.

M62 Road Closure: FRIDAY 20 – MONDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2024

The M62 between junction 19 Heywood and junction 20 Rochdale, in both directions, will close a  weekend in September allowing Network Rail to demolish and reconstruct Castleton Rail Bridge.

Friday 20th to Monday 23rd September 2024.

Alternative trans-Pennine routes include the following:

  • A69 between Carlisle and Newcastle
  • A66 Penrith to Scotch Corner
  • Manchester to Sheffield Link:  (M67/A57/A628/A616)

More information available on closures and roadworks can be found at:  www.nationalhighways.co.uk

Clarification on PSVAR enforcement letter – August 2024

Many of you will have received a letter recently from the DVSA ‘Remote Enforcement Office’ concerning PSVAR Enforcement on Home to School (HTS) and Rail Replacement (RR) services.  You can find the covering letter here. We and the UKCOA have received a number of queries regarding this and the UKCOA has spoken with the Accessibility team at the DfT and subsequently released a note providing clarification which we believe operators will find useful.  The detail of this is set out below.

The purpose of the letter is to check that operators are complying with the PSVAR minimum levels of compliance for their Rail Replacement and Home to School Transport fleets that applied from 1 August 2024 (see below). It also reminds operators that, as things stand at present, all vehicles used on these services should be fully compliant with PSVAR from 1 August 2026.

The DfT are still reviewing the responses from the PSVAR Call for Evidence and this MAY result in a further set of exemptions from 2026. However nothing, as yet, has been decided or agreed.

UKCOA are continuing to engage, and a have good working relationship with the DfT Accessibility team on both PSVAR and the Accessible Information Regulations (AIR). They are aware of the need to get clarification to coach operators as soon as possible. UKCOA will ensure that news is passed onto you as soon as it is announced.

Just as a reminder, the PSVAR levels of compliance that apply from 1 August 2024 are as follows:

  • Band A – For fleet sizes between 1 and 5 vehicles – At least 50% of the fleet partially compliant.
  • Band B – For fleet sizes between 6 and 9 vehicles – At least one fully compliant vehicle and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant.
  • Band C – For fleet sizes between 10 and 29 vehicles – At least 15% of the fleet fully compliant and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant.
  • Band D – For fleet sizes of 30 vehicles or more – At least 25% of the fleet fully compliant and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant.

The ‘fleet’ is just those vehicles that are used on HTS and RR duties; vehicles that are never used on this work (or are used on HTS services that do not carry any paying passengers) can be excluded from the fleet totals.

Partial compliance requires vehicles to comply with parts of PSVAR schedule 3 as follows:

  • Paragraph 2 (floors and gangways).
  • Paragraph 3 (seats).
  • Paragraph 4 (steps, excluding sub-paragraphs 1d, 1e, 1f, and 5).
  • Paragraph 5 (handrails).

ie: it does NOT include any requirement for a wheelchair lift or destination equipment.

Please feel free to contact Backhouse Jones on 01254 828300 or here is you have any queries.

 

School bus