Overview

I recently used the train to visit Leeds for the first time. I arrived and departed from one of the lower platforms, so everything went smoothly and I was off to explore the city in no time. There was a little bit of construction going on and the default way to where I was staying as suggested by my map app had stairs, but I easily found an alternative route. If you have a RADAR key, you will be well served in terms of bathrooms at the station. It is not the prettiest place, so I wouldn't necessarily want to have to spend a lot of time there, but if you do find yourself with a longer layover, you will find plenty of restaurants and shopping centres closely and even a pub with outside seating at the back entrance of the station.

Transport & Parking

This being the only station in Leeds city centre, all trains serving Leeds will be stopping here. There is also a concourse with taxi drop-off and two disabled parking spaces at the back of the station. The pay terminals for parking in the station have some buttons that are a bit high, but should still be reachable from a seated position. On the other side of the concourse is a multi-story carpark that also has disabled bays, including disabled bays with EV charging. There is no exception from parking fees for Blue Badge holders, though, so parking can end up quite expensive. There are a few bus stops in the vicinity, but none right by any of the station entrances.

Access

All station entrances have step-free access and automatic sliding doors. The station is split over two levels. The lower level is the main part and this is also where the Changing Places and other toilets are. The closest entrance to the toilets and ticket barriers is from New Station Street. If you enter from the drop-off/disabled parking area on Princes Square or from City Square, you will have to go up a slight ramp in the middle of the station, which has contrast and tactile markings and railings. There is seating throughout the station. All of it has backrests and most of it has armrests. The ticket machines are big screens that on occasion require you to reach up quite high, but you mostly make your selections in the lower half of the screen. There is a button fairly low down where you can request a video call. There is also a sign for an induction loop by the departure screens. The ticket machines for the LNer are a bit lower and thus more easily accessible. The ticket office has a lower counter with an induction loop at the rightmost window. The Passenger Assistance point is in the space with the toilets and ticket barriers, closest to the New Station Street entrance. It is in Operation Monday to Saturday from 6.30am, to 8.30pm. There are two wider access gates for the ticket barriers on the left side, which are well signed on the wall and floor. Platforms 0-5 are accessible step-free. To access the remaining platform, you need to go up a level and down again to the individual platform. There are stairs and escalators as well as a lift behind them if you enter at the lower level. There is also an entrance to the station on the upper level. The lifts are medium-sized and have braille writing on the buttons as well as alarm buttons close to floor level in addition to the standard-height ones. The upper level is fairly small, as it is mostly there to allow access to the platforms, but there are a few kiosks for food and an information desk. The information desk has a hearing loop, but no lowered counter. There is some seating with back and armrests, a bar-height table with charging sockets but no seats and a water fountain at the end where you come up from the lower level.

Toilets

There are two disabled toilets – one before the ticket gates and one after – and one Changing Places toilet. (I reviewed the Changing Places separately.) All of these are accessible only with a RADAR key. There are speakers for train station announcements in the bathrooms, which can be handy if you do not want to miss anything, but it is also quite loud. The toilet before the ticket barriers is in the same area as all the other toilets, which you will find easily by looking for the large toilet signage that takes up the whole wall next to the corridor leading to the bathrooms. Once you go down the corridor, there will be a recess on your left with two doors. The door on the right is for the disabled bathroom. The door opens to the outside and there is a horizontal metal bar as a handle. It locks from the inside by pressing a button on the wall to the right of the door. There is a large sign underneath explaining how it works, including in braille. There is another horizontal metal bar handle on the inside of the door as well as a medium-height coat hook. The bathroom is not particularly large, but there is space for a left-side transfer. The toilet is to your left as you enter. There is a vertical wall-mounted handrail and a moveable horizontal one on the right of the toilet and a horizontal wall-mounted handrail on the left. The flush is a movement sensor on the wall above the toilet. There is a wall-mounted single-sheet toilet dispenser on the left and a sanitary bin on the right. The red emergency cord is to the left of the toilet and the sink. The sink is a small wall-mounted sink with a short lever tap. There is a mirror above and two vertical handrails on either side. There are a wall-mounted soap dispenser and a hand dryer to the right as well as a large foot-pedal bin. There is a wall-mounted dispenser for free sanitary products to the right of the door, which is a little high up to comfortably reach from a sitting position. The other disabled bathroom is past the barriers, then down the ramp on the right and to the left along platform 1. The door will be on your right past the bike racks. The door opens to the outside, but there is no handle to pull. It is a medium-sized bathroom with enough space to turn in my powerchair. The door locks by pulling up the lever handle. As you enter a small wall-mounted sink with a lever tap is on the wall to your left and the toilet is opposite to you, on the left of the back wall. There is space for a right-side transfer. There is a wall-mounted horizontal grab rail on the right of the toilet with a toilet paper dispenser above it and a moveable horizontal rail on the left. The red cord is also on the left side.The flush is a lever on the left side of the toilet tank. The sink has wall-mounted vertical handrails on either side and a wall-mounted soap dispenser above it. The tap is a short lever tap. There is a hand dryer on the wall to the left of the sink. There is a sanitary bin and a larger foot pedal bin also along the back wall, on the right side. On the right wall as you enter, in the corner above the large bin, is a colostomy shelf and next to it on the right is a wall-mounted dispenser for free sanitary products, which is a little high up to comfortably reach from a sitting position. There are mirrors to the right of the sink in the corner above the toilet and a floor-to-ceiling mirror to the left of the door. There are coat hooks at medium and tall height on the right side of the wall to your right as you enter.

Staff

I only briefly interacted with the passenger assistance staff, who were friendly and efficient.

Photos