Travelling by Train

JoelTheGiant
JoelTheGiant Scope Member Posts: 10 Connected
in Housing and independent living
My name is Joel, I'm creating a survey to see how disabled people find travelling on trains. This was prompted by my finding that travelling on trains can be very hit and miss in terms of the likelihood of me (a wheelchair user) getting on and off the train. I'm interested to see how many people have struggles like mine and other issues that people with other kinds of disabilities have.

Comments

  • leeCal
    leeCal Online Community Member Posts: 7,537 Championing
    One thing I would say is that for me, I’d feel more comfortable if I saw more transport police on trains. I try not to use public transport because I don’t feel safe mostly. 
  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    I do sometimes wish the gap between the train and the platform wasn't so big in some cases. Thankfully I've never miss-judged it horribly enough to have an accident but sometimes it's huge and feels more like a jump than a step.
  • Justcheckingin15
    Justcheckingin15 Online Community Member Posts: 364 Empowering
    @mikehughescq, that would be a memorable experience..for all the wrong reasons.  :o
  • Luchia
    Luchia Online Community Member Posts: 560 Empowering
    I don’t use public transport at all, Uber all the way 
  • littleacorn
    littleacorn Online Community Member Posts: 383 Empowering
    I have not had a problem using trains as a wheelchair users until 2 weeks ago. I pre booked assistance to board the train via a ramp. When I got to the station I was informed firstly that I should have made the staff at the information point aware that I was at the station so they could allocate a member of staff to be ready to put the ramp in place. This made me a little angry and could not understand why I needed to do this. To wait in a long queue so staff could be assigned when I had previously booked this and they had a list of people needing support, the train they are travelling on and what time. If I did not need a ramp I would have entered the station looked at the board to see what platform the train was arriving at and made my way to the platform which I am quite able to do without assistance. 

    Then I was informed while I was boarding the train that I had to get off at a particular station as there was a disruption on the line and travel the rest of the journey by bus. I asked if the bus and the station were accessible to which they replied they did not know.  They said they would find out and pass a message via the conductor and let me know. I was informed by the conductor that I needed to get off at a different station and a taxi would be arranged to forward me to my end destination. I waited 2 hours in the cold for the taxi to arrive and gave up when non arrived and returned home very cold and not happy at all.

    After making a complaint about this the company offered me a ticket refund and as I was not happy with this as I had made arrangements to meet friends for a Christmas get together but never made it. I dont think non disabled people understand the planning  which needs to go into travelling to somewhere new.  Refunding my ticket money just does not cover this all this prearranging.  I have rejected this offer that was 5 days ago. Wonder how long it takes to here back from them! 
  • VANGOUGH
    VANGOUGH CP Network, Scope Member Posts: 31 Contributor
    Ross_Alumni said:
    I do sometimes wish the gap between the train and the platform wasn't so big in some cases. Thankfully I've never miss-judged it horribly enough to have an accident but sometimes it's huge and feels more like a jump than a step.
    I HAVE LUCKY ENOUGH I CAUGHT HOLD OF THE PLATFORM EDGE

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