Disability Rights Advocates Target Amtrak’s Lack of Accessibility to People with Disabilities 23 Years after the ADA

Stations Remain Inaccessible to People with Disabilities 23 Years after the ADA

National Disability Rights Network

For Immediate Release             
7/18/2013                        

Contact: David Card
202.408.9514 x122
press@ndrn.org

WASHINGTON – The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) will be holding a nationwide week of action to improve Amtrak’s abysmal record on accessibility for people with disabilities.  The events will take place July 21-27, 2013.

NDRN, its member agencies, and other advocates for people with disabilities will be visiting Amtrak and commuter rail stations across the country to identify accessibility problems and report violations to the Department of Justice.
The week of action is scheduled the same week as the 23rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

“Amtrak’s record on accessibility is terrible,” said Curt Decker, NDRN’s executive director. “It is unconscionable that 23 years after the ADA was passed, Amtrak trains and stations remain inaccessible to people with disabilities.  Amtrak’s refusal to comply with the ADA has left many people with disabilities unable to access trains to get to work or to travel and sometimes even left people stranded.”

NDRN’s member agencies have been finding barriers to accessibility on Amtrak trains and at stations for many years. For example, the commuter rail station in Paoli, Pennsylvania, which serves the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority commuter rail network and Amtrak, did not have a platform lift making it nearly impossible for people using wheelchairs to access the trains. Only after the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit did Amtrak install a lift.

“Amtrak doesn’t even sell tickets to people with disabilities to some destinations because they have no way for them to get off the train once they arrive,” said Decker. “Uncertainty along Amtrak’s routes means people with disabilities just avoid the system altogether.”

Other examples of barriers include inaccessible bathrooms, parking lots, and ticketing kiosks, audio systems with no visual equivalent for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, and a website and mobile app that many people with disabilities cannot use.

The National Disability Rights Network has developed a survey which will be used to assess whether or not Amtrak stations meet the requirements of the ADA.  The survey measures structural design elements such as door widths, ramps and curb cuts, height of ticketing counters, number of accessible parking spaces, grab bars installed in restrooms, and method for boarding trains.

Once the surveys are complete, violations will be reported to the Department of Justice which enforces the ADA.  NDRN member agencies will also review if legal action is necessary.

http://www.ndrn.org/en/media/releases/504-press-release-disability-rights-advocates-target-amtraks-accessibility.html

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The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is the nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and the Client Assistance Programs (CAP) for individuals with disabilities. Collectively, the Network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States.