Disabled customer "humiliated by GWR staff"

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

So she approaches ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here), even by twitter, rather than simply shouting generally from the rooftops? There are better ways about it, surely?
I don't think asking one TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) to develop their own is sensible, and you seem to agree, suggesting ATOC. Otherwise each TOC nay/may not develop their own, and an integrated solution is whats needed.

Well, doing it this way she's got us (and others within GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) no doubt) talking about it.  If she'd gone to ATOC I bet the chances of success would significantly diminish. 

Yes, as I said, it should be an integrated solution from ATOC that all the TOCs (and NR^» (Network Rail - home page)) access and deliver.  Shouldn't be too difficult as it's a national assistance system that's still used AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) - developed from the original DPRS (Disabled Persons Reservations System) that was introduced very successfully by BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) in the early 90s as an add-on to the CRS (Computer Reservations System).

[ChrisB]

Indeed, a public link into said booking system shouldn't be too hard.

But a discussion on here & getting narky on the @GWRhelp twitter feed won't actually get her bery far if we're honest, will it?

[chrisr_75]

Ooh, I've not seen those – or not noticed them, anyway. Hopefully they work better on rails than at bus stops, where sometimes the bus stops with its door alongside the built-up part, and sometimes one or two bus lengths behind it (or even a bus width away from the kerb!)

I think they're mostly on the Victoria line, though I am sure I have seen them on other parts of the network.

LUL^▸ (London Underground Ltd) as you may know have made a fine art out of accurate stopping and their trains don't normally get turned around at all, so they work quite well. Main downside appears to be the lack of joined up routes between accessible stations, which is slowly improving, but a long long way to go for TfL^» (Transport for London - about)!

Just coming back to these "humps", if I understahnd it correctly they allow a wheelchair user to simply wheel themself from the platform into the carriage without any ramp etc being needed. Is that right?

I think that is the intention if they are able to or powered, or for whoever they are being assisted by to wheel them in without manhandling them up a step. Same for pushchairs etc and of course they also help those people who can walk but may struggle with a large step.

As I recall, they also significantly close the gap between platform and train further assisting wheeled access.

[Bmblbzzz]

So she approaches ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here), even by twitter, rather than simply shouting generally from the rooftops? There are better ways about it, surely?
I don't think asking one TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) to develop their own is sensible, and you seem to agree, suggesting ATOC. Otherwise each TOC nay/may not develop their own, and an integrated solution is whats needed.

Well, doing it this way she's got us (and others within GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) no doubt) talking about it.  If she'd gone to ATOC I bet the chances of success would significantly diminish. 

Yes, as I said, it should be an integrated solution from ATOC that all the TOCs (and NR^» (Network Rail - home page)) access and deliver.  Shouldn't be too difficult as it's a national assistance system that's still used AIUI^▸ (as I understand it) - developed from the original DPRS (Disabled Persons Reservations System) that was introduced very successfully by BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) in the early 90s as an add-on to the CRS (Computer Reservations System).

I wonder to what extent this is about her and how much her tweets etc are motivated by something "bigger": a sense of injustice and desire for change on behalf of disabled people generally, perhaps? I don't claim to read her mind (I haven't even read her tweets  ) so I'm just positing a possibility.

[ChrisB]

As she's only tecently experiencing disabked facilities (having been able-bodied & now needing a wheelchair to get around, its the shock of the transition & discovering her freedoms she used to enjoy are no longer there & reconciling that with her expectations (not having researched when able-bodied like most on here). She's expressing the fact that this reconciliation wasn't as she expected & possibly thinks they could be quite quickly?

[IndustryInsider]

Are you saying that Sophie was able-bodied until recently?  She was born with cerebral palsy, so has never been 'able bodied' and has been grade 1a (most severely disabled) all her Paralympic career.

[ChrisB]

Ok, my bad. I thought I read that she had only taken t awheelchair recently, & read too much into that....

[LiskeardRich]

Ok, my bad. I thought I read that she had only taken t awheelchair recently, & read too much into that....

Is there two different incidents being reported and muddled into one? The original disabled person it definitely said was recently disabled.

[dviner]

I wouldn't say it was two different incidents, but a set of similar incidents that are being reported from two sources - one of whom has only recently started using a wheelchair, while the other is a lifetime user.

[ChrisB]

I was definitely referring to the former, and misread again, asI thought the second report was by the aame person on another trip?

[IndustryInsider]

I see that the new lift at Burnham is now working having been installed in tricky conditions for the best part of last year.  So, Burnham is now a fully accessible station.

[Western Pathfinder]

That's good to hear however both of the lifts that I needed to use at Paddington today were not working 😤

[plymothian]

The Customer Assist system is creaking at the seams due to the explosion of people using it - not just persons with reduced mobility, but it's also being used as a portering service and staff cannot cope with demand especially if there is more than a couple of requests on one train, 2 or more trains arriving at the same time, or something taking longer than expected.

Take Exeter St David's just before Christmas, there were just under 300 BOOKED assistance requests on one single day, so disregarding turn-up-and-travel, with 3 dedicated assist staff, 4 agency, the duty station manager and the gateline staff trying to cope.

There are also people who book or need on spec assistance do not help themselves in many circumstances by making staff aware of their presence, especially if someone else has helped them on the train.

Assists at Paddington are slowed down too due to the sheer number of people alighting from the train that the buggy cannot safely drive along the platform until the majority of the people have left.

And Harrington Humps are not designed to allow level access to trains, they are only to reduce the step from the train on to the platform.  Without standardised rolling stock and standardised straight platforms, some of which can be done on the self contained TfL^» (Transport for London - about) network, there will never be level boarding access across the national network.

[IndustryInsider]

Christmas assistance levels have always been far higher than average.  I remember we had 8 on one train at a station I was working at 20 years ago.  Two members of staff plus me available, so we had to prioritise those with the most need.

[CJB666]

Witnessed bullying of a disabled couple at Paddington a few days ago. Disabled guy with crutches looking like he was in pain and his elderly wife disembarked from the front of a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) electric on platform 12. They had luggage with them. The train had stopped almost to the buffer stops. The easiest way out for them was through the staff gate by the buffers to which - in their innocence - they were headed. The gateline goon across on platform 11 saw them and started blowing his whistle at them and gesturing wildly that they should NOT go that way, under no circumstances, no way, go back, .... Finally they seemed to understand and they then had to lummox their luggage and hobble up to the platform 12 gateline, and then all the way back down platform 12 to the main concourse. The excellent customer service thing to do would have been to simply walk round, check their tickets, and then let them through the staff gate. No - this goon had to make a loud song and dance about them, embarrass them in full view of the public, and treat them like shit. Having witnessed the full incident I told him his attitude was a disgrace and that I'd report him.