Should disabled users upgraded to first class receive the full first class offering?

[GW43125]

They'd need to fit accessible toilets too, not as simple as it seems?

Is there not already a disabled loo in coach A on the 5cars?

 

[Caleb2010]

Not all disabled people use a wheelchair though! I have a 4 wheel walking aid.

I travelled from Nottingham to St Pancras last year on an EMT 125. I need to be adjacent or very close to the accessible toilet. They put me in first class as that is where the accessible toilet is. I was given a couple of pots of tea and some biscuits during the journey, which I offered to pay for, but the staff were happy to give them to me.

I neither asked or expected to be put in first class, I didn't expect that the standard class wheelchair area wouldn't have an accessible toilet. (Whereas the 5 car IET has an accessible toilet but no wheelchair space in standard).

When there's no provision of what the passenger requires, what do people think the train companys should do?

Should someone moved into first class be given first class treatment? - they are sitting in first class, and are doing it legally as the train operator has put them there - why not?

 

[mde]

There's a minor issue with that, it isn't as comfortable as sitting in a seat in 1st, is it?

Compared to a typical train seat, a wheelchair would be less comfortable - certainly the 'cheap' ones. The NHS standard solution to this problem is to use a pressure cushion, which will help; but, frankly, who is going to go to that trouble just to game a cup of tea out of TPE?

You can get more 'comfortable' wheelchairs, but, the cost is quite a bit higher (add a zero or two to the price); and, comfort is, of course, subjective to the person. and their condition.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Should someone moved into first class be given first class treatment? - they are sitting in first class, and are doing it legally as the train operator has put them there - why not?

Given the price of a cup of tea and a microwave meal, I would say yes, as to do otherwise is to make them feel out of place, and to me is not appropriate when the only reason they are there is that the TOC has made a commercial decision not to provide the appropriate accommodation for them in Standard.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Seven pages of people arguing about whether someone should get a mug of coffee and a sandwich, items worth literally pence. Sums up a lot about the British psyche, the fear that someone, somewhere, might be having a better time than you.

Give them a bloody cup of tea!

 

[jon0844]

I thought pretty much everyone is saying to give all the service and benefits ?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I thought pretty much everyone is saying to give all the service and benefits ?

It's certainly the majority view. Wheelchair users have things bad enough - not least that for them almost any ticket is effectively an Advance due to needing to prebook assistance, and it's not like they are getting, in most cases, the main benefit of 1st, the larger seat, on the grounds of having brought their own. A cup of tea and a butty barely compensate, so let them have that. Let them have cake too if they want, as the phrase goes!