Disabled travellers

Catering to the needs of disabled travellers is part of services provided by the railways. UK, French and Swiss railways offer in-station services to assist disabled travellers access the trains.

• Switzerland
 Call Center Handicap offers advice and assistance for disabled travellers with the possibility to arrange assistance in the stations to access trains for passengers in wheel-chairs or visually or mentally impaired. Advance notice (one hour, two hours, twenty-four hours) is required for some services.
 Tactile bands and braille signage mark out the security lines on escalators, platforms and on train carriages
 Cassettes and information in braille is provided by the Association for the Blind
 Televox also provides train timetables and platform information for several train stations
• France
 Porters wearing red jackets are free of charge for disabled passengers (disability card required)
 Each train has a special area for wheel-chairs
 Disabled services and routes are indicated with a special pictogram
 Wheel-chairs are available at the entrance of major train satations and ramps are also in place to help disabled passengers access trains.
• UK
 The National Rail Enquiries will indicate the train company responsible for stations to assist in arranging a journey
 A booklet “Rail Travel for Disabled Passengers” is available giving advice and information
 Toilets in train stations and on-board are accessible for wheel-chairs
 Staff can meet and accompany disabled passengers to their trains
 Guide dogs, hearing dogs, assistance dogs can be taken into station restaurants
 Wheel-chairs and powered wheel-chairs up to 67cm wide and 120cm long can be carried on all trains, pending space availability

In France, discussions with Associations for disabled travellers and the French Railways have commenced to ensure that the necessary changes are incorporated at the planning stages for new stations and trains. The next 10 years should see major improvements for disabled travellers. The SNCF has agreed to put a timetable on the work in progress, so that by 2015, wheel-chair users, visually impaired, mobility restricted travellers will be able to use the services throughout the country.

Throughout Europe, many of the stations were not at all built with wheel-chairs or guide dogs in mind. In designing new stations it is easier to build-in facilities for disabled travellers. Most importantly, however, the railways are working closely on training programmes for all their public-facing staff to ensure they are equipped to inform and assist disabled travellers and facilitate their journey.