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Disabled woman: no assistance available from East Coast
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Howardh
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OK, let's get some kind of perspective here.
You're on a train, abled or not. Your station, train pulls in, stops, you're at the door, push the button, knackered, doesn't open. Look round, no guard to be seen, no help button, train pulls off.
It's happened to me, and after thre train pulled away, finally got to the guard to alert him of the problem told to get off (through a working door) at the next stop (20' away) and back-track.
Trains have emergency pulls, but those are for emergency (??) but why can't every carraige and door have some kind of intercom system where the guard/driver can be summoned by "hey, I'm stuck, I need assistance here" without the threat of a fine if it's trivial?
Most trains I travel on you never get to meet the guard - so a wee line to them "why don't you bother to come down the train and sell me a ticket as my station is unstaffed and doesn't have a machine" could also increase their income.
But what do I know?
You're on a train, abled or not. Your station, train pulls in, stops, you're at the door, push the button, knackered, doesn't open. Look round, no guard to be seen, no help button, train pulls off.
It's happened to me, and after thre train pulled away, finally got to the guard to alert him of the problem told to get off (through a working door) at the next stop (20' away) and back-track.
Trains have emergency pulls, but those are for emergency (??) but why can't every carraige and door have some kind of intercom system where the guard/driver can be summoned by "hey, I'm stuck, I need assistance here" without the threat of a fine if it's trivial?
Most trains I travel on you never get to meet the guard - so a wee line to them "why don't you bother to come down the train and sell me a ticket as my station is unstaffed and doesn't have a machine" could also increase their income.
But what do I know?
What about this business about having to "crawl off the train" because the help she "booked" wasn't there? So she's a lier then? Watch my sympathy evaporate......there it goes.
The next stop was 20 feet away? :?
EM2
Established Member
Booking assistance should be immaterial. I'd be pretty sure she was boarded by staff using a ramp, so they should have contacted KGX to pass details on. That's what happens where I work, in fact I'd say we do more unbooked than booked jobs (I'd have to check).
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No it doesn't. Nowhere in the original article does she claim that she booked asistance. It says she had requested it in advance, but I would take that to mean what I mentioned above, that the boarding station should have (or said they would) call ahead.
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Howardh
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Because there are no cleaners left that late at night as the sets go to bounds green to get cleaned and then washed outside.
Has nothing to do with it.
Interesting. Which would back up what I mentioned earlier on in this thread in as much as the night supervisor not knowing she was on there.
You're right - they shouldve called ahead which brings me back to the point I made earlier about the KGX staff not getting the message. Things happen during disruption and it was probably noted somewhere and then lost in the mele of staff change over at 10pm and the system failing.
Nothing more nothing less.
blacknight
Member
You can not prove that statement can you. Impression from OP was that assistance had been booked in advance of journey, new PassAsssit system been bit hit & miss in first year.
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Failed to heed old adage that if it aint broken dont try fixing it, staff in Newcastle to my knowledge was a railway based call centre not sure about new set up.
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D1009
Established Member
Quite the opposite, apparently on the Radio 5 live interview she stated she had not booked assistance on that particular occasion. The article quoted by the OP was written by someone else, who could have misunderstood her. All I am saying is bearing in mind the amount of disruption it is likely that the station staff were fully occupied helping other people to their destinations and couldn't be everywhere.
Also she is a former athlete and well able to deal with the situation, even though it would have appeared to others she was in some distress. Far from my sympathy evaporating I am in agreement with her cause, but I don't think the railway did as badly as was portrayed.
The call centre might even have been there since BR times. Cost-cutting measures were ultimately what led to the decision to go somewhere else.
SS4
Established Member
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Disabled Assistance is an area which I feel needs improvment.
People who book assistance have their names on the list generated at stations with platform staff but the information isn't readily available to guards. At manned stations the platform staff arent always around for the arrival of the train even if they have been told which part of the train the passenger is in.
I would also say that there is perhaps a problem in that the majority of assist's seem to be older people with luggage who (dare i say it) should really pay for a porter service - but then where do you draw the line.
As for the underground, again a comment that may not be over-popular, but I cant see train/platform interface gaps ever being removed network wide. Its not possible with stations on curves etc. I also would raise safety concerns about having wheelchair users on narrow platforms and attempting to board crush loaded trains.
People who book assistance have their names on the list generated at stations with platform staff but the information isn't readily available to guards. At manned stations the platform staff arent always around for the arrival of the train even if they have been told which part of the train the passenger is in.
I would also say that there is perhaps a problem in that the majority of assist's seem to be older people with luggage who (dare i say it) should really pay for a porter service - but then where do you draw the line.
As for the underground, again a comment that may not be over-popular, but I cant see train/platform interface gaps ever being removed network wide. Its not possible with stations on curves etc. I also would raise safety concerns about having wheelchair users on narrow platforms and attempting to board crush loaded trains.
Problem with wheelchair assists is that it ultimately requires a human to remember. All it takes is a distraction at the wrong moment. I'd not be surprised if that's what happened at Kings Cross to the wonderful lady concerned. Still - it's not good, and does paint us in a bad light
Yes I can. It doesnt matter where anything is moved to, during times of disruption other things start to take precedent - i.e. getting people onto the late trains from a terminus and then a shift change over things get forgotten in the melee.
It doesnt matter whether its based in Newcastle or Outer Mongolia - mistakes happen. Things get mislaid. Its called human error. Deal with it. And stop trying to pillory the company for where it moves anything - it. does. not. matter.
EM2
Established Member
A lot of the time that information, even when it is passed, is incorrect. I've lost count of the number of times we've been told a passenger is in coach A at the front of the train, when it's at the rear, or the second coach when it's the third.
Blindtraveler
Established Member
agree with earlier comment Re large number of assists are older luggage laden pax. What ever happened to the consept of porters? im sure theres any number of foalk who would gladly become porters on a self employed basis and could be a real service improvement.
As a regular user of the services for there intended purpose i have to say that from experience KGX is a long term problem where no shows of staff are concerned.
I have been having problems there for years and now avoid it, chosing to coach, fly or use euston. I too have had the stock response that it woant happen but it regularly does and I can count the times it hasnt..
As a regular user of the services for there intended purpose i have to say that from experience KGX is a long term problem where no shows of staff are concerned.
I have been having problems there for years and now avoid it, chosing to coach, fly or use euston. I too have had the stock response that it woant happen but it regularly does and I can count the times it hasnt..
Flamingo
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Nothing wrong with porters, employ them as the airports do, you pay a flat fee is you use one. I seem to recall it's £15 for Heathrow.
D1009
Established Member
I thought porters were available at Kngs Cross comparitively recently, was it in GNER days ? Probably not at midnight though.
They probably still are. Trouble is is that people dont want to use them.
Was always free.
D1009
Established Member
But they expected a tip.
They never expected anything. They were doing their job, to say otherwise is harsh on them and rather rude.
If they were free and didn't need or expect a tip, they were obviously salaried. So, was it Network Rail that paid for them or the TOCs, or a TOC?
I bet the people who moan about high rail fares wouldn't be that bothered about saving them if they were, indirectly, paying for them.
I bet the people who moan about high rail fares wouldn't be that bothered about saving them if they were, indirectly, paying for them.
blacknight
Member
It mattered to staff who worked in Newcastle call centre. As for passengers & disruption what is problem with nominating member of staff to man the phone & another to take charge of assist list.
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Porters are employed by the TOC
Yes it mattered to them as they lost their jobs but where somethign is situated has no baring on whether or not the system fails - which was my point.
Channel 4 News have had a focus on the topic recently - worthwhile reading some of this stuff, and watching the reports nightly (Geoff Holt hasn't been mentioned on the TV)
Stephen55a1960
Member
I was always advised (as a disabled person in a wheelchair) never to alight at Oxford Road! Seems sensible enough to me. If you want to read, something positive about railways and disability, (albeit nothing to do with EC), check out my thread Stephen's Scottish Travels (in trip reports and nostalgia).
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