Lift at Woking Station closed for staggering 40 days last year

Woking MP Will Forster calls for urgent action on railway accessibility 

New data uncovered by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that one of the lifts at Woking Station was out of service for a shocking 40 days in 2024 – nearly triple the number of days it was closed in 2023, when it was unavailable for 14 days. 

The other two lifts at Woking Station also saw significant increases in downtime, with one out of service for 9 additional days and another for 24 more days than the previous year. 

Will Forster MP has warned that lift closures, especially when not properly announced, can leave wheelchair users and those with other accessibility needs “stranded” and in some cases can lead to an “upsetting or distressing experience.”  

Now with a full year’s experience as MP for Woking, Will commutes regularly via Woking Station and has witnessed first-hand the frequency of lift outages. He raised concerns with South Western Railway (SWR) last week in his role as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on SWR. 

SWR responded that an intermittent hardware fault is affecting the lift on the island platform. Because the lift is not performing reliably, it has been taken out of service until a further maintenance visit. A full repair, likely involving part replacement, is pending. SWR also confirmed that they will follow up with Network Rail for a repair timescale. 

On a more positive note, they stated that signallers are actively routing trains onto platforms with step-free access whenever they know a passenger with accessibility needs is onboard or waiting. 

Will Forster and the Liberal Democrats are calling for the Government to address this issue to ensure wider accessibility for train stations with measures including reinvigorating the Access for All Programme (AfA) and creating a statutory duty on accessibility for the railway.  

Commenting, MP for Woking, Will Forster said: 

“Here in Woking many residents use the station on a daily basis, to get to work, school or an important hospital appointment.  

“When the station lift is closed, wheelchair users and others with accessibility needs are left stranded. This doesn’t just cause significant disruption to someone’s day but can also be an upsetting or distressing experience.  

“These prolonged closures are simply unacceptable. That is why I’m calling on the Government to get to grips with the lack of accessibility at railways, hold rail companies and Network Rail to account, and ensure our transport system is accessible for everyone.”