A disability campaigner in Stockport said he’s “chuffed” about new plans to make his local train station more accessible.

Nathaniel Yates, who lives near Reddish North railway station, has been calling for accessibility improvements for years, and trying to highlight the difficulties faced by disabled people at some train stations.

Whilst he said there’s more work to be done, he was thrilled to see a scheme by Network Rail put forward this week for improvements at his local station.

Currently, Reddish North has a bridge which requires people to climb stairs to reach the second platform.

New plans lodged include a lift and foot bridge to create an ‘obstacle free’ route for people to get across the station, as well as the installation of compliant access stairs down to both platforms.

A temporary foot bridge will be in place for the duration of the works.

The campaigner has cerebral palsy and makes videos about his experience of using train stations to highlight how they could be improved.

While Stockport has seen improvements to its transport infrastructure in the last few years, including getting a new interchange in the town centre, its train stations still need work to open them up to disabled people, or people with prams.

Reddish North is one of the stations for which Nathaniel has been able to bring about change - something more accessible than this footbridge is planned for 2025 (Image - Alasdair Perry)

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands the work will be funded through a Department for Transport scheme to address issues faced by disabled passengers.

Rachel Wise, a Labour councillor in Reddish North, posted on Facebook that the work could begin in 2025, and that she hoped Mr Yates would be the one to cut the ribbon when the new lifts are installed.

Mr Yates said: “I’m really pleased, It’s been a long time coming. It’s one step on a long road to make everything accessible, I’m proud of fighting for this and the achievement.

“This is a generational thing that will serve people in the future too, in 20 years time people will be able to get access to the other side of the station.”

Grace Baynham, a Lib Dem councillor responsible for transport in Stockport, pointed out that less than half of the borough’s train stations have step-free access.

She told the LDRS: “I believe that step free access at stations is very important to make public transport accessible for all the residents in Stockport Borough.

“I have been pushing for more step free access for a number of years. I welcome the investment I have been working for via the national Access for All programme, which will be a boost to transport access in Reddish.

“I want to see more investment in step free access, and it to happen more quickly.

“In particular, I have already called for the next round of funding to include Woodsmoor, Davenport, Woodley, and Bredbury.

“I will continue to press for improvements across the borough for better access to rail for all our communities.”

Network Rail was contacted for comment.

To support Nathaniel, consider checking out his X - formerly known as Twitter - page HERE.

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