Stockport’s Liberal Democrat Group have launched a campaign to put pressure on the government to properly fund adaptations at railway stations to ensure that they can be accessed by all.

A motion to be debated at Stockport’s next Full Council Meeting calls on the Secretary of State for Transport to reconsider proposals which will see half of the funding for adaptations due to be spent in the current period pushed back until 2019-24.

This means not only will less be spent now but also fewer adaptations may be delivered in total by 2024. This will affect people with a permanent physical disability and also parents with pushchairs, those suffering a short-term injury and those who simply struggle to use stairs for whatever reason.

Cllr Laura Booth, who lost a leg as a child and regularly needs to use a wheelchair, said: “It is over twenty years since the rights of disabled people were passed into law, yet despite being one of the world’s richest countries, many people cannot use their local railway stations.

“The UK rail network still has a long way to go to improve accessibility, so it is very concerning to see the recommendation within the Hendy review to cut by 50% the ‘Access for all’ funding.”

Cllr Geoff Abell, who represents Stockport Liberal Democrats on the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, said: “Transport for Greater Manchester have shown how accessibility for all can be achieved in the design of the Metrolink system.

“Stations in Stockport such as Bredbury, Heaton Chapel, Reddish North, and destination stations such as Manchester Oxford Road, all have stepped access to at least one platform, making them inaccessible to many people. We are calling for action to increase spending on accessibility, not cut it.”

Hazel Grove has a lift to allow access to platform 2, but it is only available when the station is staffed. Therefore it is unusable after 7pm.