Title: Blind man left stranded on Eurostar train in Brussels Post by: Chris from Nailsea on February 18, 2011, 23:54:04 From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-12511179):
Quote A blind man from Kent is considering taking legal action against Eurostar after he was left stranded on a train in Brussels. Dr Tom Pey, chief executive of the Royal London Society for the Blind and Dorton House School, in Seal, had asked for a conductor to help him on arrival. He was travelling to the European Parliament to press for improved rights for guide dog owners. Eurostar has apologised, blaming "a breakdown in communication". Dr Pey, who is registered blind and can only distinguish between light and dark, described the experience on 2 February as "distressing". He travelled to Brussels from Ebbsfleet International station in Kent, but had chosen not to take his guide dog on the return journey. Instead, he had arranged in advance to be guided off the train by a Eurostar employee. When no-one turned up, he was left to wander around the station in Brussels for more than an hour before he finally found his way out. "For me it was just terrifying because you literally don't know where you are, and if that happened to you in London for instance, at least you know how you can stop and ask for help," he said. "When you're in a foreign country it doesn't necessarily work that way and you're pretty much on your own." A Eurostar spokesman said: "This was obviously a distressing experience for Dr Pey and we called him last week and apologised unreservedly. We are committed to providing support to all our passengers who require assistance and while situations like these are thankfully rare, this incident is being taken extremely seriously. "Together with our SNCB [Belgium's national rail company] colleagues at Brussels Midi we are currently investigating why this happened and are committed to preventing any further such incidents." It said it had offered Dr Pey two pairs of first-class tickets to be used for fundraising purposes, and had also offered to make a financial donation to the Royal London Society for the Blind. Title: Re: Blind man left stranded on Eurostar train in Brussels Post by: eightf48544 on February 19, 2011, 11:01:32 Yet another reason to get the ICE's through the tunnel so one doesn't have to change.
Brussels Midi is a dump. Title: Re: Blind man left stranded on Eurostar train in Brussels Post by: anthony215 on February 19, 2011, 13:19:42 Shame this happened. Mind you i have seen occasions where people will just walk pass and refuse to help a blind person asking for assistance. There is 1 blind person who commutes regulary between Neath & Swansea and fair play to ATW staff who will assist him onto the train and make sure he has a seat and another emember of staff always meets him off the trains ans escorts him to the ststaion entrance.
I do hate it though when some people play hell because the have accidently been caught by someone using a white cane. seen this in cardiff once luckily some people interveinded as it wasnt really the blind persons fault. This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |