RAIL passengers who travel from a Tameside train station will now be able to benefit from using a new fully accessible toilet.
The toilet at Broadbottom station, on the Hadfield – Manchester Piccadilly line, has baby changing facilities, grab rails and an audio description for people with visual impairments.
It also has safety features in the form of user-activated multiple distress cords and low-level panic buttons.
The toilet can be accessed via a radar key, a train ticket QR code, or video access linked directly to rail operator Northern’s 24-hour customer contact centre.
In keeping with the station’s historical building, the toilet has been finished with cladding in sandstone and dark grey roof tiling.
It’s one of 83 fully accessible toilets set to be installed at train stations across Greater Manchester, funded by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).
They have been designed by Seed Architects and accessibility groups have offered their expertise and guidance to help ensure all needs are being met.
Craig Harrop, regional director at Northern, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Transport for Greater Manchester and our other partners to introduce this new accessible toilet facility at Broadbottom.
“It’s packed full of innovations, safety measures and technology that will cater to the needs of all our customers.”
The multi-million-pound scheme will see some existing toilets refurbished, the introduction of new facilities within station buildings, or the installation of stand-alone toilet pods.
Simon Elliott, TfGM’s head of rail, commented: “The opening of these state-of-the-art facilities at Broadbottom marks the latest step forward in making our rail stations across Greater Manchester more accessible.
“A major focus of the Bee Network is making public transport fully accessible, and by providing these facilities we want to encourage more people to choose public transport as a way of getting around the region.
“However, with more than half of Greater Manchester’s railway station still not fully accessible, we recognise that much more work needs to be done to improve this offer, and we will continue working with operators and industry partners to make rail and other modes of public transport accessible to all.”