People with disabilities fear being left behind on the station platform due to the design of Queensland Rail's new trains.

The New Generation Rollingstock was due to be operational in mid-2016, but delivery was halted due to myriad issues - including the toilets being too small for wheelchairs - before the first of the trains entered service in December.

There are now five New Generation Rollingstock trains on the tracks, with an application for exemption from discrimination laws around the design of the toilets yet to be decided by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

QR and the Department of Transport and Main Roads applied to the Australian Human Rights Commission for a temporary exemption to discrimination laws while it completed works to change the toilet layout to make the NGR trains comply with disability standards.

But in a submission to the AHRC, the Queensland Rail Accessibility Reference Group said an exemption would prolong discrimination.