Workstream Lead Reflections

Simon Watkins – MACS Vice Convener and Rail Lead

“There have been some big leaps forward in 2025-26 in the accessibility of Scotland’s railways. The biggest of these was the announcement that all ScotRail’s future rolling stock (apart from Inter-City services) will be designed for level boarding. This is a huge step forward which will benefit not only disabled passengers, but parents with buggies etc., and something we have sought for a while. 

We had also suggested in our response to the Government’s proposals for the railways next Financial Period, that the UK-wide Access for All scheme be beefed up in Scotland. We wanted this as analysis by our sister organisation south of the border, DPTAC, had revealed that it will take 80-100 years to give all stations step-free access through this scheme. The Scottish Government has responded and is in the process of setting up an additional budget to supplement Access for All.

We are also in the process of trying to influence the Railways Bill, which sets up Great British Railways, as it goes through the UK Parliament. The Bill does now include a new duty on both Great British Railways and especially its Passenger Council to look after the needs of disabled passengers, which we and many other DPOs had called for in the consultation on the Draft Bill. We are also seeking to guarantee disabled representation on the Passenger Council, but it is currently too early in the process to know if we will be successful in this.”

Anne Macleod – Ferries and Aviation Lead

"This year, we’ve continued to build strong relationships with key stakeholders and service providers. Lots of good things are happening around ferry accessibility including the trialling of NaviLens to assist sight-impaired passengers and the establishment of CalMac’s Accessibility Board, on which we sit.

This is another platform where we can push for firm commitments to improve design across booking systems, terminals and vessels. We have been advising on replacement vessels at design stage, sharing lived experience and suggesting modifications to improve the journey for disabled passengers, ensuring new vessels entering service meet the needs of everyone.”

Susan Fulton – Active Travel and Infrastructure Lead

"It’s been a challenging year for the group with diminishing numbers to carry out the sheer volume of work associated with the subject area of Active Travel and Infrastructure; however we have been able to contribute to consultations, working groups and engage directly with organisations that affect how we all negotiate the environments we use every day to try and ensure that they are as accessible and inclusive as possible. 

We were happy to see the Inclusive Design for Town Centres and Busy Streets published as well as Cycling by Design and delighted to be asked to attend the RAUCs (Roads Authorities and Utilities for Scotland) Seminar where we were able to impress upon the attendees the importance of removing as many barriers as possible when temporary works are being carried out.

The workstream sadly lost two long-standing members who had completed their final terms after 8 years with MACS; Naghat Ahmed and Michael Tornow. Both Naghat and Michael worked tirelessly to contribute to MACS work and their talent and expertise will be hugely missed by all of us.”

Lesley Macinnes – Public and Community Transport Lead

“We took part in the SPT Transport Summit concentrating on The Future of Buses in Glasgow and the West of Scotland where we emphasised the importance of accessibility issues around appropriate bus design and infrastructure needs. 

We also participated in the Scottish Transport Summit, raising similar issues within constructive conversations. We were also pleased to learn from Mencap's presentation of a study into the barriers routinely experienced by people with a learning disability when using public transport across the UK, 'No Journey Left Behind'.”

Anya Kettles – Acting Planning, Strategy and Engagement Lead

“It has been a pleasure to engage with disabled people and their organisations over the past year. We have represented MACS at many events and conferences. Some of the highlights include: Transport Scotland’s Staff Conference, the Accessibility Four Nations Meetings, DriveAbility’s Glasgow Launch, the Cross-Party Group on Disability, the National Centre for Accessible Transport’s (NCAT) Scotland Roundtable and Joined Up Policy’s ‘Joined Up Journeys’ Launch.

We have also attended the National Transport Accessibility Steering Group and met regularly with Transport Scotland’s Accessible Travel Team to support the development of the new Accessible Travel Framework (ATF) Successor.

Over the coming year we will have an even greater focus on engagement with new ‘Engagement Champions’ sharing the progress of each workstream.”