The Assisted Travel Lounge at Nottingham station has been designed and installed by East Midlands Railway and is especially for passengers who require assistance to travel or require a calming location to await their train.  

The lounge is located on the dispersal bridge at the station giving customers who have pre-arranged passenger assistance a waiting space and meeting point.

Support will be available by a member of staff for passengers, special consideration will be given to those with developmental, physical or impairment disabilities.

The Assisted Travel Lounge includes seating at differing heights which has been selected to suit the varying needs of customers, also plenty of space has been given to provide excellent access for wheelchair users, mobility scooters, those with walking frames or visual impairments.

The Nottingham station team have also been hard at work to create an extremely calming aesthetic for the lounge.

The brand new lounge is part of overall work to improve Nottingham stations accessibility for disabled passengers, some of the changes include tactile paving which is now featured on all platforms.

Nottinghamshire Disabled People’s Movement member Liz Silver has a visual impairment and uses a long guide cane to provide her with information about surroundings around her next step ahead. Liz and other members of the group were offered an invitation to visit the new lounge and provide feedback to the Nottingham station team.

Liz Silver said: “It is great that access issues are being addressed and that disabled people are being consulted and action taken as a result. I was particularly pleased with the range of seating in the new lounge. Some of it was higher than standard and this means that the seating can accommodate a range of access needs for different people.

“It’s also really positive that all the platforms at the station now have tactile paving along the platform edge, it will really reduce my stress levels when catching a train.”

Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director for East Midlands Railway, said: “We are delighted to open this lounge and provide our customers who require assistance a clearer way to get support.

“We understand that for some customers a station can be a very difficult place to navigate or visit. That’s why we have made sure to design the lounge so it provides a calm and reflective space, away from the hustle and bustle of the main booking hall.”

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