Public Transport Fun

ChrisR777

I had to take a short train journey to the next town today, it reminds me every time why I avoid it where possible.

The outbound train was a two carriage wonder, so small that on driving up the ramp, there is no room to turn around to come off again at the next stop, and the sliding doors are ridiculously narrow, so much so that I got wedged in the doorway, the sliding doors opening and closing on me.

I have no idea how others manage, I haven't ever seen another powerchair on the train.

On the return, the platform guy was chatting to me, holding a folding ramp, when a man started demanding he come and open the ticket office on the other side of the platform, he wanted a ticket. He was standing next to a ticket machine!

The platform guy was polite the first time, but wasn't happy the second time, he told the man to use the machine.

This was a quiet platform at 13:00, no need for tantrums about ticket offices. Did the man expect the staff member to hand me the ramp and fend for myself? It took me right back to the joys of working with the general public, how i miss it so! 🤥

Anyway, i now know to try and get on either an Aberdeen or Edinburgh, Glasgow bound train If I want to have room to actually turn around. I also now have added incentive to save some money for a car!

SwiftFox

Anhedonia2

Ah yes, I remember how fun it was working with the general public! Rude and entitled would be an understatement 😅 The amount of times I wanted to snap back "You can see I'm in the middle of something!"

It's shocking trains are so inaccessible still, I've seen so many people say about staff not turning up with ramps and so they've been left stranded on trains or taken on to the next stop instead too. It's so bad.

ChrisR777

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1135878#Comment_1135878

My very first journey, I ended up 60 miles north of my stop. Not ideal when one can't access the train toilet, it was a close run thing.