“A new app set to make travelling on trains easier for disabled people is to be rolled out across Britain. The app, called Passenger Assist, will make it easier for people with a disability to book and amend assistance requirements for train journeys, according to industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).”
Tag Archives: wheelchair access
Good news – London to Amsterdam direct by train.
Helen and I have taken the Eurostar to from London to Paris several times. We love it. Train travel is so vastly superior to flying for those of us in wheelchairs that I cannot even begin to describe the difference. We have also taken the train from London to Amsterdam on several occasions, and although it is still much better than getting there by plane, the trip involves a change in Brussels that adds a lot of stress (and rolling; Brussels Midi is a very big station) to the trip.
Good news, everyone!
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2016/10/eurostar-will-go-direct-to-amsterdam-next-year-in-just-4-hours/
uberASSIST
“With uberASSIST you can expect the reassurance and ease of communication that comes with a vehicle driven by one of our top rated partner-drivers who has completed a disability equality course, developed and delivered by disabled trainers working for Transport for All and Inclusion London. Vehicles can accommodate most folding wheelchairs, walkers and scooters and in the early part of next year, we hope to add fully wheelchair accessible vehicles to the platform.”
(Straywheel butting in here to make it clear that we are not promoting Uber’s “uberASSIST” program. They are making it sound like a good thing for whelchair users, when in fact it is nothing more than a standard car or van with an extra person to “assist” the wheelchair user in their transfer into and out of the vehicle. When they say that they “hope to add fully wheelchair accessible vehicles” (emphasis mine), what they are saying is that at present they haven’t got anything with a ramp, which means that it isn’t possible to stay in your chair. It means a transfer. Accessibility is not about providing someone to help. Accessibility means providing the person with a mobility impairment the means to access the building or vehicle without assistance.)