Nearly a quarter of people in the European Union identify as having a disability, and gaps in railway accessibility can stop them travelling by train.
About 24% of the EU population identifies as having a disability, according to figures cited by the European Commission in a statement on Wednesday.
A lack of accessible tourism costs the economy about €142 billion a year, it added, citing research linked in its statement.
The Commission pointed to examples from the UK to illustrate the pace of change, citing estimates that it would take more than 200 years for all train stations to become accessible to wheelchair users at the current rate, and more than 300 years for all London Underground stations to become step-free.
The organisation said progress is uneven not only in station infrastructure but also in the speed at which operators replace older trains, affecting how quickly accessibility improves.
Information gaps and practical fixes
Many physical accessibility features are already developed and in use — including ramps, lifts, level boarding and accessible toilets — but passengers can still face barriers when their needs are not primarily physical, the Commission said.
It called for rail operators and public authorities to involve disabled passengers directly when designing solutions, and highlighted a co-design toolkit produced by the EU-funded TRIPS project, which involved people with disabilities, according to its statement.
The Commission also referenced the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) plan — a long-term blueprint for major transport corridors — saying commitments need to be followed through with realistic goals, funding and delivery.
Better accessibility information was also flagged as a recurring problem, with the Commission saying existing data standards such as GTFS — a widely used format for public transport schedules — can include fields that indicate whether stations and services are accessible.
It cited examples of operators testing new approaches, including South Western Railway in the UK working on an AI tool to translate audio announcements into sign language, and Dutch operator NS providing detailed accessibility information through its app.
