Paragraph 9 Handholds

(1)

Subject to sub-paragraph (2), a handhold must be fitted to the top of the back of each passenger seat which faces towards an end of a rail vehicle and is next to a gangway in a passenger saloon, and must comply with the following requirements—

(a)

it must contrast with the seat to which it is attached;

(b)

it must have a slip-resistant surface;

(c)

any edges or corners in its surface (including those in its mountings with the seat) must be rounded off;

(d)

its exterior design must not incorporate any empty space or gap, including any between it and the seat to which it is attached, having less than 45 millimetres clearance for a passenger's hand; and

(e)

if its exterior design incorporates any empty space or gap, the cross section of the handhold, excluding any mountings, must have a width of not more than 40 millimetres at its widest point and not less than 20 millimetres at its narrowest point.

(2)

Sub-paragraph (1) does not apply to a seat—

(a)

the back of which touches a partition;

(b)

the back of which touches the back of another seat which faces in the opposite direction and is fitted with a handhold;

(c)

which reclines and which, in the reclined position, touches the back of another reclining seat in the reclined position which faces in the opposite direction and is fitted with a handhold;

(d)

to which a handrail is attached; or

(e)

which is situated no more than 50 millimetres from a handrail, handhold or partition measured from the top of the back of that seat in both the fixed and, as the case may be, reclined position.