The submission was made in a counter affidavit filed in response to a public interest litigation moved by disability rights activist Vaishnavi Jayakumar, seeking directions to make railway stations, coaches and infrastructure compliant with the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India, 2021.

In her plea, the petitioner argued that the statutory deadline to make existing infrastructure accessible has already lapsed. Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017, Section 45 required existing infrastructure to be made accessible within five years of notification, that is by 2022, while Section 46 required accessible services within two years, by 2019. Despite this, she said, railway infrastructure remains far from compliant.

Citing Chennai Fort and Egmore stations as examples, the plea stated that there are no ramp at the Fort to access platforms or the ticketing office. It has no accessible toilets, tactile warnings or disability signage, a condition she said applies to all suburban stations.

The plea also flagged inaccessible coaches, citing the absence of level boarding, compartment doors narrower than the mandated 900mm, aisles too narrow for wheelchairs, and electric sockets unable to support medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, BiPAP and CPAP machines. It pointed to a foldable ramp introduced by the Guntur Division as a model that should be replicated nationwide, and noted that an October 2023 directive for an access audit had not translated into visible action.

Responding to the plea, SR stated that the Ministry of Railways had issued comprehensive accessibility guidelines under the disabilities Act and the Accessible India Campaign, with fresh guidelines issued in November 2022 and notified through a Gazette publication in November 2023. Implementation has been divided into short-term, medium-term and long-term targets, with all stations expected to complete short-term facilities before November 2026.