Since 2006, the Access for All (AfA) programme has aimed to improve accessibility in railway stations across England, Scotland, and Wales. The programme continues to address the challenges passengers with disabilities and mobility restrictions encounter when using railway stations.
Accessibility challenges seriously impact the confidence and ability of people to use rail travel. This includes people with health conditions or physical impairments, the elderly, and people with children. Precision rail machining is playing a huge part in improving the infrastructure of the rail service in the UK.
Access for All programme – CP7 goals
The AfA programme is currently in Control Period 7 (CP7), a planned set of activities and goals for maintaining the UK’s railway structure over the next five years (between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2029). These aims include:
- Delivering inclusive and accessible services and facilities.
- Designing new station schemes and changing existing stations to be compliant with the DfT Design of Accessible Stations Code of Practice (and other relevant accessibility requirements).
- More effective management of remote condition monitoring for lifts and escalators across the network – and improved response times when there are faults.
Inclusive rail station design
In May 2024, Ministers announced eight stations would receive immediate accessibility improvements, and twenty-three other stations would proceed to the detailed design stage for improvements.
Rail engineering will play a significant part in this surge in station upgrades driven by Access for All. Examples of crucial rail station accessibility improvements include:
- Automatic lifts that give an audible tone when doors open and close.
- Tactile warning surfaces on staircase and platform edges.
- Step-free access platforms.
- More ramps and footbridges with lowered handrails.
Precision-turned CNC components: fully traceable and audited
At M-CNC, we machine components for the rail industry to an incredibly high degree of precision. Our superior CNC turning capabilities enable us able to deliver repeat orders for high volume hardware.
These include the highly durable, precision turned components used in railway station accessibility, such as lifts, ramps, and platform safety systems:
- Lifts: Turned pulley pins, actuator housings, and guide rail connectors.
- Ramps: High-tolerance pivot bolts and lock-pins for carriage-mounted systems.
The accurate machining of accessibility equipment for the rail sector is safety-critical. If a lift break fails or a ramp pivot shears, it causes a major hazard and hugely impedes passenger safety. This is why CNC machining is the manufacturing method of choice for safety-critical rail parts – because the practices we use ensure safety in the rail sector.
1. Traceability
At M-CNC, we offer complete product traceability for every part we manufacture, including full material traceability. This ensures quality from the start to end of part production to its finish.
It also reassures our customers that the raw materials and supply chain we use are nothing short of excellent. We provide full documentation on the materials we use in part production, including First Article Inspection (FAI) reports.
2. Meeting tight tolerances
Rail component manufacture demands that parts must meet very tight tolerances – especially safety-critical parts that enable accessibility. We achieve the machining of incredibly accurate parts that meet these tolerances in several ways, including:
- CAD/CAM programming: We use sophisticated CAD/CAM software at every stage of part development. Integrated seamlessly with our CNC machines, it enables an unparalleled degree of precision in both part design and manufacture.
- CMM inspection: We also use industry-leading CMMs (coordinate measuring machines) to precisely measure the physical geometry of even complex parts, testing they meet the original design intent and flagging any issues so they can be quickly fixed.
3. Compliance
M-CNC are a RISQS verified and AS9100 Rev D certified supplier, meaning our rail customers can be reassured that we:
- Ensure our supply chain is resilient and fully traceable.
- Meet all risk assessments and rail safety regulations.
- Deliver orders on time and reliably fulfil our contracts.
