Avanti accused of ‘virtue signalling without virtue’ over wheelchair user art | Rail transport

Campaigners have accused one of the UK’s leading train companies of “virtue signaling without virtue” after using images of wheelchair users which they said did not reflect the reality of traveling with a disability.

Digital artist Baraka Carberry has created a new look for Avanti West Coast, which provides rail links between London and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland, showing “scenes of people, culture, color and joy”. Titled Returning Together, the images cover all seven carriages of the new Evero train, which the company says reduces carbon compared to its legacy train fleet.

In one of the designs on the side of the train, two women using wheelchairs show that they are enjoying the journey together. However, each train has only one wheelchair space in standard class (and another in first class). This means that two friends or family members who are wheelchair users cannot travel together in standard class and will have to take separate trains.

Alice Maynard, lifelong wheelchair user and former head of disability strategy at Railtrack, published on social media It’s about the disparity between the appearance and reality of travel, as there is only one wheelchair space in standard class on these trains.

Maynard, a business consultant and coach who also works for London’s Department of Transport and Transport, told the Guardian it would be preferable to increase wheelchair space on trains rather than flashy displays that suggest this is the case.

“Don’t be woke, be inclusive,” he urged Avanti. “The images are supposed to be celebratory, but they’re not celebrating us. This is nonsense. This is virtue signaling without virtue.”

Paralympic athlete and wheelchair user Anne Wafula Strike, who also campaigns for better accessibility for disabled people on public transport and publicly revealed in 2017 that she had to wet herself on a train because accessible toilets were out of use, also criticized the gap between new train visuals and the reality of travel for wheelchair users.

“People with disabilities feel disenfranchised right now, and it’s very difficult to combat that,” he said. “What happens if a couple who uses a wheelchair wants to travel together on one of these trains? The world of disabled people is narrowing when it comes to transportation. There is no level playing field between disabled people and big companies.”

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: “There has been no reduction in wheelchair space on any of our trains and the layout has not changed. All our trains comply with current legislation regarding the provision of wheelchair space on board.

“However, we are sorry to hear that Alice Maynard was offended by some of the imagery on our Together We Roll train. The wrap design was born from an idea submitted by our frontline colleagues to celebrate the diversity of our workforce as well as the communities we serve on the west coast mainline, including our many valued customers who are wheelchair users. We are proud to be a company that emphasizes the importance of inclusion and this artwork reflects that.”