CUSTOMERS travelling with Northern can now ask members of staff for a Radar key if they need it to use an accessible toilet.

The train operator is providing thousands of conductors and station staff across the North of England with the keys.

Customers can use them to open more than 10,000 accessible toilets across the UK, including ones in various railway stations.

Northern is hoping the initiative will make it easier for people with disabilities and limited mobility to travel by train.

Mark Cutter came up with the idea to make the keys more readily available. He chairs Northern’s Accessibility User Group (NAUG), which represents people with a range of disabilities.

He said:- "I have always made sure I have a spare key on me, because so often people can find themselves searching an entire station to find the 1 member of staff who has the key. By giving Radar keys to customer-facing staff, Northern is reducing barriers to access for everyone who needs to use the accessible toilet facilities."

After sending the Radar keys out to depots and stations, Northern is now encouraging staff to take 1 with them on each shift so they can offer it to a customer who needs it.  

They are also being provided with sunflower lanyards which they can give out to customers.

The lanyards are worn by people who want to let others know they have a disability or condition that may not be immediately apparent and may need a helping hand.

Alex Hornby, Northern’s commercial and customer director, said:- “We’re working hard to make it easier for everyone to travel across our vast network, and to ensure taking the train is as comfortable and trouble-free as possible. Our conductors and station teams are always on hand to provide assistance and support to people who are travelling with us. We would always encourage our customers to ask if they need any help throughout their journey. This common-sense initiative is another example of the great work of our NAUG team of experts, and us ensuring that we capture such useful feedback that can drive accessibility improvements across our network.”

It comes after new facilities designed to give disabled customers the confidence to travel by train were installed at dozens of stations run by Northern.

Passenger Assistance Points have been introduced over the last year at 31 stations, including Windermere, Warrington Central and Bradford Interchange.

Each point is located close to the ticket office, where customers should check in 1st. They are then invited to take a seat in the designated area so a member of staff can meet them when it is time to go for the train.

As part of a trial, another 9 Meeting Points have been installed at unstaffed stations, including Headingley and Hornbeam Park.

Disabled customers can wait in the marked area so they can be seen by a conductor when a train arrives and then be offered assistance.