Tillgänglighet för funktionsnedsatta på järnvägsstationer - Konflikter i arbetsprocessen vid tillämpning av TSD

Sammanfattning: Accessibility is something often taken for granted in our society, but it is a necessity for people with disabilities. Railway stations are a public place and are often a connecting point for several modes of transport. Design of railway stations in terms of accessibility for persons with disabilities is governed by several national and international governing documents. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if Sweden's railway stations are accessibility adapted according to the European standard Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) and to highlight the strengths and weaknesses in the work of the client organization and consultants when discussing accessibility at railway stations. To achieve theses purposes, five questions were formulated: ? How well do the Swedish railway stations fulfill the technical requirements of the PRM TSI? ? How do they work with accessibility adaptation in the client organization and among consultants? ? Is it lack of availability of experts leading to the railway stations not being adopted according to the technical requirements of the PRM TSI? ? How well known is the governing document PRM TSI and is it being used? ? What are the reasons that leads to all the requirements of the PRM TSI cannot be met in new construction and reconstruction of railway stations in the future? The methods used to examine the issues are two case studies and qualitative interviews. The case studies are two railway stations, Helsingborg and Malmö Central Station. At these two railway stations, an inventory study was performed to show that neither of the two railway stations are accessibility adapted according to the PRM TSI. The qualitative interviews were conducted among selected individuals in the client organization and among consultants. Analysis of the interview study and acquisition of knowledge of literature shows that there are shortcomings in the work process of accessibility adjustments. Cooperation between people in the client organization is not effective. One example is expert’s opinions are not affecting the project manager's view on accessibility issues in projects. In addition, a combination of deficiencies leading to the accessibility of railway stations is not reached. Low level of knowledge about the PRM TSI, poor use of resources (accessibility experts and Notified Body) in the client organization and the low priority of the accessibility issues are some of the deficiencies reported in the thesis. In the future, railway projects cannot avoid the application of the PRM TSI. According to the Railway Act, TSI must be applied in Sweden if a project has begun after TSI was introduced, which it was in 2008. This means that all railway stations, in construction and remodeling, must be applied according to these technical requirements. If a future project does not meet the PRM TSI technical requirements, it is due to the fact that the project began before the TSI was introduced. The study shows, that it then must be due to ignorance of the TSI, client organization inefficiency or project management with low ambition of accessibility adjustment. When redevelopment of an existing railway station is in progress, it could also be related to the existing environment at the site. We hope this study will inspire accessibility to people who work in the client organization and among consultants, but also that they gain knowledge of how important it is to take account of the PRM TSI.