High Speed 2 Equality Impact Screening

8/7/2019 High Speed 2 Equality Impact Screening

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High Speed

Rail: Investingin BritainsFuture

Equality ImpactScreening


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Equality Impact ScreeningIntroduction

The public consultation on the Governments

proposals for a national high speed rail

network could, subject to the outcome, be

the beginning of a long process to build

such a network in Britain. Equality Impact

Assessment Screening starts to assessor identify where there may be differential

impacts for equalities groups1 with the

Governments overall proposed policy on

high speed rail. The public consultation

also includes detailed proposals for a route

between London and the West Midlands

and many of the more specic points raised

in this document relate to potential design

and implementation issues. The Appraisal

of Sustainability (AoS), published in supportof the public consultation, contains a

separate screening on equality impacts for

the proposed line of route between London

and the West Midlands. During consultation

and, if a decision is taken to proceed with

high speed rail, thereafter the Department

will undertake further work to assess any

differential impacts for equalities groups. In

addition, as proposals for other parts of the

network were developed, further work wouldneed to be undertaken to assess equalities

impacts on those routes.

1 The protected characteristics are: age,disability, race, gender, pregnancy andmaternity, gender reassignment, sexual

orientation, religion or belief

Is there any indication or evidence that

different groups have different needs,

experiences, issues or priorities in

relation to the particular policy/activity?

The National Travel Survey (NTS) shows that

rail covers 3% of all trips but 8% distance

travelled

2

.

Safety and security concerns are seen as

an issue which affects female passengers,

ethnic minority groups, the young and

lesbian, gay and bisexual groups. Evidence

suggests that these are issues that might

be considerations when choosing rail as a

mode of transport, though this is a design

stage consideration rather than a high level

strategy issue.

There is a gender difference in the use of

rail. Female rail passengers represent 46%

of the total rail passengers. More males than

females make commuting and business

trips, but more females travel for leisure

reasons. 45% of commuter passengers

are female, 35% of business passengers

are female and 54% of leisure passengers

are female3. Women appear to travel more

often but for shorter distances. Overall in

2009, females made 5% more trips than

males. However, males travelled 19% further

than females, averaging 7,380 miles a year

compared with 6,193 miles respectively.

Women of all ages used buses more than

rail, but men aged 30-39 used rail slightly

2 http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/latest/nts2009-03.

pdf3 http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/

datatablespublications/railways/nrtsupdate.pdf

2
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/latest/nts2009-03.pdfhttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/latest/nts2009-03.pdfhttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/latest/nts2009-03.pdfhttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/railways/nrtsupdate.pdfhttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/railways/nrtsupdate.pdfhttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/railways/nrtsupdate.pdfhttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/latest/nts2009-03.pdf


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Equality Impact Screening

more than buses, reecting the more

widespread use of rail among commuters.

Another issue which affects the use of rail

is the accessibility of trains and stations.

The NTS tells us that 12% of all people

aged 16+ have a mobility difculty. The

percentage is higher for those aged over60 19% for those aged 60-69 and 39%

for 70+4. Disabled passengers wishing to

use public transport may be concerned

about accessibility issues. These are issues

to be considered at the design stage but

HS2 rolling stock and facilities would be

designed to be fully accessible for persons

with reduced mobility. At minimum they

would comply with the requirements of the

Equality Act 2010, in particular the dutiesrelating to the provision of services set out

in Part 3 of and Schedule 2 to that Act.

Rolling stock would be built in compliance

with the requirements of the Railways

(Interoperability) Regulations 20065. The

building of a high speed line might also have

knock on benets for disabled passengers

as associated infrastructure that connects

with the high speed network is upgraded to

be more accessible.

4 http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/age-mobility/

nts0622.xls

5 S.I. 2006/397, as amended. Regulation 4Brequires rolling stock used for the carriage

of passengers on a high-speed rail system

to comply with the technical specications

for interoperability (TSI) relating to persons

with reduced mobility set out in the Annex

to Decision 2008/164/EC of the European

Commission of 21st December 2007, orany amended version of it or any TSI which

replaces it.

Cost is a further issue in train use which

evidence suggests is an issue for older

and younger people. Evidence shows that

young people in general had a favourable

view of inter-city trains, although they

were perceived as expensive6. Cost is a

signicant factor determining older peoples

ability to travel as often as they would like7

.Current industry products such as the

Young Persons rail card, Senior Persons

railcard and the Disabled persons railcards

offer reductions for many current tickets.

The commercial interest of rail operators to

attract passengers is also a factor in fare

setting. High speed rail would not, of course,

be open for some time so any precise

discount arrangements would be an issue

for further consideration at a later stage.

Is there any potential for, or evidence

that, changes to any part of the proposed

policy/activity could discriminate, directly

or indirectly? (Consider those who

implement it on a day to day basis)?

As shown above there may be issues with

regard to equalities groups in respect of

design (e.g. accessibility and safety) issuesand the pricing of high speed rail.

We looked at the demographics of the major

conurbations which would be served by high

speed rail in particular by gender, age

6 Young people and transport: their needsand requriements http://www.dft.gov.uk/

pgr/inclusion/childrenandyoungpeople/

youngpeopleandtransporttheir1186.

7 Older people and transport: their needs andrequirements http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/

inclusion/older/.

3
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/age-mobility/nts0622.xlshttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/age-mobility/nts0622.xlshttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/age-mobility/nts0622.xlshttp://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/inclusion/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeopleandtransporttheir1186http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/inclusion/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeopleandtransporttheir1186http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/inclusion/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeopleandtransporttheir1186http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/inclusion/older/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/inclusion/older/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/inclusion/older/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/inclusion/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeopleandtransporttheir1186http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/nts/age-mobility/nts0622.xls


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High Speed Rail: Investing in Britains Future

and ethnicity and race. The West Midlands,

Manchester and Leeds have a higher

proportion of non-white residents than the

national average. This might suggest a

positive effect in that ethnic minority groups

in those areas would have good access to

high speed rail including in the economic

and regeneration benets building a new

railway would bring.

Is there any stakeholder (staff, public,

unions) concern in the policy area

about actual, perceived or potential

discrimination against a particular

group(s)?

At this stage no stakeholder group has

indicated that they are concerned with

actual perceived or potential discrimination

against a particular group.

Is there an opportunity to better

promote equality of opportunity or

better community relations by altering

the proposed change to the policy/

activity or working with other government

departments or the wider community?

The initial view is that there would not

be at the strategy level. However, better

designed trains and stations would bemore accessible to disabled persons.

As described above, HS2 rolling stock

and facilities would be designed to be

fully accessible for persons with reduced

mobility. The proposals also include

opportunities for signicant regeneration

at Old Oak Common, in Birmingham city

centre and at and around London Euston

station. It should be noted that there would

be negative impacts at certain placesalong the recommended route between

London and Birmingham, for example

signicant displacement around Euston

and Washwood Heath where a lot of social

housing would need to be demolished and

replaced. This may disproportionately affect

certain groups (BME, older people, those on

low incomes). The Government is committed

to working closely with local government,

and with community groups, residents

associations and affected residents generally

to ensure that effective arrangements are

in place to meet the housing needs of

those affected by demolition, and to help

to address wider impacts on the local

community. Further work will be required to

assess and mitigate the impacts.

Also an issue of design, by mitigating the

impacts on the environment there will be

less impact on the communities close to the

proposed route between London and the

West Midlands. More about this is contained

in Appraisal of Sustainability.

Is there any evidence or indication of

higher or lower uptake by different

groups?

As discussed above evidence shows a

slightly lower take up of rail travel amongst

women. Rail use also tends to be lessfrequent for those aged below 17 and

above 60. Those aged between 21 to 29

undertook the highest number of trips by

rail according to the NTS 2009. There also

is a difference in rail use based on earnings

30% of rail journeys are undertaken

by people in earning bracket 17,501 to

35,000, 24% earning between 7,000

or below and 17,500 and 22% earning

35,501 to 50,000 and 24% earning over50,000 NTS 2010.

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Equality Impact Screening

One of the key aims of the Governments

high speed rail strategy is to increase

capacity thereby ensuring that there is

enough supply to meet future demand. If the

Government does not take steps to address

estimated demand evidence the West

Coast Mainline would reach capacity by

2024. A high speed rail network would also

serve to release capacity on existing lines,

in particular the West Coast, East Coast

and Midland Main Lines, allowing greater

opportunity for more commuter and freight

services. Furthermore, we have modelled

the benets of a possible new high speed

railway based on existing ticket prices so

that it should not lead to disenfranchising

anyone. There will also be the opportunity

in the delivery phase for the operator of

any new services to set their own pricing

policy once the service is up and running,particularly as they would be incentivised

to ensure that they attract passengers. A

national high speed rail network could also

generate around 44billion in benets to

the economy in terms of jobs and wealth

creation.

Will the proposed changes lead to

greater social or physical barriers to

participation (e.g. language, format,

physical access/proximity)?

The Governments high speed rail proposals

are about improving access and connectivity

between our major conurbations. At a

strategic level high speed rail does not

exclude any group and in policy terms

is aimed at making the economy more

competitive and helping to bridge the

longstanding northsouth divide. High speed

rail would open up new opportunities for

travel for all groups.

The public consultation will be an

opportunity for signicant engagement with

individuals and groups both nationally and

along the proposed line of route between

London and the West Midlands. It includespublic events, printed and web-based

material and information at central libraries

(along the line of route).

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High Speed 2 Equality Impact Screening

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Transcript of High Speed 2 Equality Impact Screening