Last week’s King’s Speech may have been brief, but it came with a briefing note packed with details of the Government’s plans for the coming Parliamentary session. The notes outline plans for three modes of transport: air, rail, and road, particularly, taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs). Passenger experiences and regulations are at the heart of each of these modes. As a consortium member of the National Centre for Accessible Transport, and the secretariat for the Accessible Transport Policy Commission, we have been informing accessible transport policy for the past three years and will continue to do so.
Aviation: Regaining disabled people’s trust
Air travel is arguably the mode where disabled people, especially those who use mobility aids, face the most serious barriers. In our report Joined Up Policies, Joined Up Journeys, we heard directly from disabled people across the UK who had been put off flying entirely following distressing and costly experiences. A disabled person from England told us they would “never even attempt it anymore” after damage to their wheelchair during a flight meant they could not even leave their hotel on holiday.
The government’s forthcoming Civil Aviation Bill seeks to tackle this issue. It aims to strengthen consumer rights and protections, support economic growth and infrastructure provision, and ensure safety. Importantly, the background notes flag that satisfaction with air travel is measurably lower among disabled passengers than non-disabled ones. To address this, the Bill intends to give the Government flexibility to reform consumer rights in aviation, potentially including long-overdue changes to compensation for damaged or lost mobility aids. Currently, the compensation for mobility aids is nowhere enough to cover costs.
Regulation is another essential element. During our regulatory roundtable for the report, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) discussed the limitations of relying solely on reputational levers rather than financial penalties. Unlike regulators in the EU and other UK sectors, the CAA doesn’t have the power to impose fines, and this Bill could change that.
Rail: make or break moment
Last week was a big week for the rail industry. During UK Rail 2026, the King’s Speech announced two relevant bills: the Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill and the Northern Powerhouse Rail Bill.
The Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill is a key systemic change in transport, as it establishes the Great British Railways. This Bill has been carried forward into this session of Parliament.
To recap, the Great British Railways is a new publicly-owned body that brings together infrastructure and services under one roof. It would streamline countless booking systems, assistance processes, and journey information into one platform. As always, the usability of this system and its benefit to disabled people depend on the early active involvement of disabled people in the design.
The Bill introduces a new Passenger Watchdog, built from Transport Focus, with powers to set accessibility standards and investigate poor service. However, it’s important to note that the watchdog cannot enforce its own findings and must instead refer issues of non-compliance to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). This means that whether non-compliance is addressed depends on the ORR’s decision, which has raised concerns. Both Transport for All and the Transport Select Committee have voiced worries about whether a watchdog without enforcement powers can truly safeguard passengers’ rights. In our report, Joined Up Policies, Joined Up Journeys, we made strong calls for regulators to become more visible to disabled people and for the government to give them increased powers to enable accessible transport. Availability to disabled people without effective powers to regulate would defeat the purpose.
The Northern Powerhouse Rail Bill invests up to £45 billion to establish a new rail route from Manchester to Liverpool via Manchester Airport. To note, this is a renamed version of an older HS2 bill. The most significant element of this legislation from an accessible transport perspective is the ambition to deliver turn-up-and-go services. In many cases, disabled passengers currently have to book assistance 24 hours in advance. Without turn-up-and-go infrastructure, limitations punish many disabled people by taking away their ability to make spontaneous journeys just like everyone else. For this Bill to benefit disabled people, the Government must deliver its ambition of a turn-up-and-go service across the rail route.
There’s so much more to share about accessible railways than can fit into any King’s Speech. The background notes highlight how vital railways are for providing “reliable, affordable, and accessible transport.” Last year, I shared some detailed insights about the Department for Transport’s accessible railways roadmap, which I recommend checking out along with these updates.
Taxis: the most explicit commitment to disabled people
Of the three modes covered, the Draft Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Bill makes the most direct commitment to disabled passengers. Within the first paragraph of the notes, the disproportionate barriers disabled people face are acknowledged. The Government goes on to highlight that people with mobility difficulties make almost 70 per cent more taxi or PHV trips per year than those without.
The Bill proposes a unified national framework for taxi and PHV law, stronger protections for disabled passengers, and greater powers for regulators. While the Bill applies to England, our roundtables in other nations made it very clear that taxis are a significant piece in enabling door-to-door journeys. In the background notes, the government acknowledges that national standards would be beneficial. There’s a great opportunity here for the UK and devolved governments to coproduce shared accessibility standards through our proposed Accessible Transport Standards Commission.
The Government also acknowledges that standards alone are not sufficient and legislative change to modernise taxi provision is crucial. As the draft law develops, the Government must ensure that disabled people are involved from the early stages. I am intrigued to see and will work to inform what the plans for greater powers for regulators will be. In Northern Ireland, we repeatedly heard that the lack of regulation has been a significant barrier to disabled people’s access to taxi travel.
Next steps
I look forward to informing the development of these legislation and see the next steps on the Government’s side. True coproduction happens from early stages of policy development and delivery. From a new rail route to a passenger watchdog, rail travel is at a key point to involve disabled people in decision making and delivery. Improved regulation of aviation and taxis is long overdue as they have been repeatedly outlined by experts across the UK. Legislative changes must protect the rights of disabled people both in theory and in practice.
One key event that is coming up is the Accessible Transport Policy Commission meeting on 16 June 2026, which will be focusing on disabled people’s legal right to transport. Please get in touch with me if you wish to be part of this work.
