Making public transport fully accessible ‘could boost UK economy by £176bn’

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers said the cost of making the rail network fully accessible would be between £20bn and £24bn. Photograph: David Gee/Alamy View image in fullscreen The Institution of Mechanical Engineers said the cost of making the rail network fully accessible would be between £20bn and £24bn. Photograph: David Gee/Alamy Making public transport fully accessible ‘could boost UK economy by £176bn’ Report says current network of buses, trains and stations effectively locks 2.8m people out of workforce Investing in the UK transport network to make it fully accessible to disabled passengers could boost the economy by £176bn by helping millions more people into work, according to a report. Making the economic case for an inclusive transport network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) said the current system was inaccessible to almost a quarter of the working-age population. Highlighting a lack of lifts and ramps at stations, large gaps on platforms, and a lack of tactile paving and sensory-friendly environment, IMechE said people were being shut out of work, education and everyday life. Its report found that almost half of disabled professionals have turned down job opportunities because of transport issues, leaving about 2.8 million people effectively locked out of the workforce, in part because of transport barriers. Based on the Office for National Statistics’ estimate of an average worker’s annual contribution to economic output of about £63,000, IMechE said helping all of them into a job could add £176.4bn a year to the national economy. “Inaccessible buses, trains and stations are not just a social failure, they are a massive economic own goal, holding back growth, productivity and the UK’s path to net zero,” the report said. The analysis comes after the prime minister, Keir Starmer, announced billions of pounds of cuts to infrastructure projects across the UK last week to help cover a £15bn increase in defence spending over four years. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, had previously argued it would be a mistake to reduce infrastructure funding in the face of tough fiscal decisions, suggesting that cuts made by the Conservatives had contributed to weaker growth in the British economy over recent years. IMechE estimated the cost of investing in a fully inclusive rail network would be between £20bn and £24bn spread over a number of years. It called on the government to consider tax incentives for accessibility upgrades to unlock private investment, and a push to make inclusive design a core engineering requirement. It said its £176bn figure could be a conservative estimate, because there were other ways the economy could benefit, including a potential £22.3bn-a-year boost to retail, leisure and tourism as a result of disabled people taking more trips using public transport to high streets and venues. Closing the accessibility gap could also generate between £10bn and £34bn in extra annual fare revenue for transport