Industry Disability Working Group: From Commitment to Culture

Disabled people are the world’s largest minority and it’s the only minority anyone can join at any time. That simple truth should shape how we design our workplaces, not just our passenger services.

Across rail, we’ve made important strides on accessibility for customers. Now we have a timely opportunity to embed the same ambition for our colleagues. With Great British Railways (GBR) developments, the Government’s rail accessibility roadmap, and increasing cross-industry collaboration, we’re at a “golden opportunity point” to make disability inclusion part of the bedrock of the industry, not an add-on.

The data tells us why these matters. Network Rail, the UK railway’s largest employer, publicly reports that fewer than 3% of colleagues have declared a disability. Against national disability prevalence, that strongly suggests under-reporting and unmet need. Add to that the wider disability employment gap, only around half of disabled people are in full-time work or education compared to over 80% of non-disabled people and the scale of the challenge becomes clear.

But there’s also momentum. At our recent Industry Disability Working Group session, leaders and practitioners from across the sector came together to share progress, confront what’s difficult, and focus on what practical change looks like.

“Treat people with kindness.”

One of the most significant and sensitive discussions centred on the current uncertainty following the Supreme Court ruling and the evolving EHRC guidance. The clearest message from subject matter experts was both human and practical:

“Nobody should be ‘policing’ facilities… everybody needs to be treated with kindness.”

Colleagues are not expected to challenge or interrogate anyone about their identity. Instead, we must focus on respectful support, confidentiality, and clear, workable guidance for managers, while ensuring disabled colleagues’ access needs remain protected in any local arrangements. It’s a complex area, but it’s also a moment to model the kind of workplace culture rail wants to be known for.

What “good” can look like: Disability Confident Leadership (Level 3) We also heard a compelling case study from Transport for London (TfL) on achieving Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) status confirmed from 1 April 2025 through to March 2029.

Importantly, TfL’s team emphasised this isn’t a “job done” badge. It’s a baseline and a platform for continuous improvement:

“Reaching a level 3 doesn’t mean that the work is done… it’s very much an ongoing commitment.”

Their approach was practical and replicable: a cross-functional task and finish group spanning recruitment, adjustments, HR, procurement, occupational health, customer functions, and critically disabled colleague network representation. The process didn’t just gather evidence; it surfaced gaps, strengthened shared ownership, and created governance to track ongoing actions.

For an industry seeking consistency, that matters. As one takeaway put it: if we can align on a credible baseline across operators, we can hold ourselves and our partners to account.

A shared industry framework: the “inspiration circle”

Building on learning from the Rail Youth Promise, the group introduced a strategic framework for disability inclusion—designed as a continuous cycle:

Inspire → Hire → Manage → Learn → Grow → Connect (underpinned by Influence & Accountability)

The logic is simple: show disabled people they can thrive in rail; remove barriers at entry; ensure managers have capability and confidence; invest in learning; create progression pathways; and strengthen partnerships so best practice travels faster than problems.

As one speaker captured the ambition:

“If we can change that into a rail industry which becomes an example for other industries… it will be everyone and the sharing of your ideas.”

This work isn’t limited to one organisation. It’s about collective, practical action, sharing what works, standardising what should never be variable, and scaling the pockets of excellence already in the system.

Turning discussion into action: passports, pathways, and pipelines Several concrete opportunities emerged:

1) Accessibility / Adjustments Passports across industry A powerful idea raised was portability: a consistent “adjustments passport” approach that supports disabled colleagues when they move roles—or even move between rail organisations—so they don’t have to repeatedly re-prove needs.

2) Building talent pipelines through SEND links and heritage railways There’s growing interest in partnering with SEND schools and specialist colleges and even working with heritage railways to create supported pathways into rail-related skills and roles.

3) Designing EDI into GBR from day one

Work is already underway to embed equality, diversity and inclusion, including reasonable adjustments—into future industry structures. This is exactly the moment to bake in what “good” looks like.

Where we go next

Rail Unites for Inclusion exists to connect, amplify and accelerate the change that individual organisations can’t deliver alone. The next step is clear: move from agreement to implementation, turning pillars into shared commitments, measurable actions, and repeatable models.

Because when disabled colleagues can enter rail, stay in rail, and lead in rail, everyone benefits, our workforce, our culture, and ultimately our passengers.

And we’ll know we’re getting it right when disability inclusion is no longer a special initiative just “how rail works.”