Changing Places Toilets have been fitted at motorway service stations since 2011, but for years progress was slow and inconsistent between operators. That changed with 2022 regulations requiring all service areas to provide a Changing Places facility, with the requirement extended to newly built EV charging hubs as well. Moto, the UK’s largest service area operator, now provides more Changing Places facilities than any other operator on the network.

The gap that remains is largely in older sites awaiting refurbishment. For a family planning a long motorway journey, checking which services along the route actually have a facility – rather than assuming any will do – is still a necessary part of trip planning, not an optional extra.

Have a look at the Changing Placaes Toilet Map for Motorway Services with these facilities.

Guidance under BS 8300 identifies transport hubs, termini and motorway services as priority locations for Changing Places provision, and specifically calls for a facility at every Category A National Hub station – the UK’s 28 largest rail stations. In practice, provision at smaller stations remains far more limited, meaning a journey that starts and ends well can still have a substantial gap in the middle.

Clapham Junction, one of the busiest interchange stations in the UK, is a good recent example of this being addressed properly: alongside its existing step-free routes, lifts and staff assistance, it now includes a fully compliant Changing Places Toilet, supporting passengers making longer or multi-leg journeys across London and the South East.

Read more about Clapham Junction.

Provision isn’t limited to stations themselves, either. In Truro, the Green Street public toilets sit close to the cathedral, main shopping streets and local public transport links – a well-placed facility in a town or city centre can support a journey just as much as one inside a station building.

Sea crossings raise the same issue in a different form. Wightlink’s ferry terminal in Portsmouth added a Changing Places Toilet with support from the Department for Transport’s Maritime Accessibility Fund, followed by a second facility at its Ryde Pier terminal on the Isle of Wight – meaning disabled passengers can now plan a crossing knowing their needs are covered at both ends, not just one.

Read more about Wightlink’s Changing Places Toilets 

Several major UK airports now offer Changing Places facilities in at least one terminal – recognising that a long-haul or even short-haul flight is one of the least forgiving environments to be without suitable facilities. However, air travel generally is problematic for many people regardless of the provision of accessible bathroom facilities.

If you’re responsible for a rail or bus station, or a transport hub, and are thinking about whether a Changing Places Toilet would be beneficial, try our quick interactive tool:

Try our Changing Places Toilet Opportunity Tool

A perfectly accessible destination doesn’t fix an inaccessible journey to get there. For families managing complex needs, a day out is really several linked decisions: can we get there safely, can we stop along the way if we need to, and can we manage once we arrive. A gap at any point in that chain can be the reason a trip doesn’t happen, however accessible the final destination is.