A blind person has revealed the struggles he faces when travelling to London by train.
Paul Goddard, from Crowborough, often travels to the capital from East Sussex by rail but has called the journey ‘anxiety inducing’ at times, saying the Passenger Assist programme is ‘inconsistent’.
Paul, a railway campaigner, was born partially sighted and has been registered blind since 2008, the BBC reported.
Passenger Assist allows you to request an assistance booking in advance.
Any train company can organise assistance for your entire journey, even if you are travelling on multiple services – including GTR, which works in London Bridge station, where Paul travels to, and operates Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express.
However, Goddard says help isn’t always forthcoming even if organised well in advance.
He said that, on occasion, he’s ‘literally left to my own devices to negotiate the station.’
Paul Goddard said he feels that there isn’t enough passenger assistance on trains
And despite having made a reservation on the passenger assistance app, he explains ’99 per cent of the time’ when arriving into London Bridge, no one is there to meet him.
Paul’s not the only blind passenger to struggle either.
Four in five blind and partially sighted people in the UK have struggled to cross the gap between trains and station platforms, a new survey has revealed.
Many have injured themselves in the process too.
Research from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) showed more than 60 per cent say they are not consistently met by staff at stations – even when they have booked help in advance.
Carl Martin, accessibility lead at GTR, said: ‘We care passionately about making our railway accessible for everyone and work closely with blind and partially sighted people to improve our services.
‘It was extremely disappointing to hear about Mr Goddard’s experience, and we arranged a meeting to discuss his feedback.
‘Subsequently, we are trialling a dedicated Assisted Travel Coordinator to oversee all assistance at London Bridge.’
GTR said it will trial a dedicated coordinator to oversee all assistance at London Bridge
Additional examples of enhancements through work with national sight loss charities and blind and partially sighted passengers include providing free access across stations.
There will also be an app, Aira, to provide blind people with navigational guidance. There will also be audio guides on its trains and, soon, stations.
Another measure will be ‘Try a train’ events to familiarise blind and partially sighted people with trains and services.
It comes after the Access for All (AFA) programme had plans to improve 50 stations – but last week, it was announced 19 projects would not proceed.
Network Rail declined to comment.
