Disabled people might still be waiting for all UK trains to be accessible were it not for the success of a high-profile campaign led by John Knight, who has died of sepsis aged 67, after himself overcoming profound disabilities from birth and becoming a leading figure in the charity and public sectors.
Knight was responsible for policy and campaigns at the disability charity Leonard Cheshire during passage of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, which was to set a deadline for railway carriages to be accessible. Train companies were pressing for a date of 2035, to maximise the life of inaccessible rolling stock, but the campaign persuaded the House of Lords to back an amendment to the legislation with a time limit of 2020. The change was then accepted by the Labour government.
