As a wheelchair user, it is very frustrating that with all the talk about PRM modifications nobody is bothering to address the issue that is really important to me - level access trains.
The only heavy-rail service in the UK that I have ever come across with level access is Heathrow Express. Now I read that those trains are to be replaced by Class 387s.
Among new-build trains, I think I have read that Crossrail and the Greater Anglia FLIRTS will be level access. Can anyone confirm this? Are there any others, existing or planned? What about Thameslink - how does one load a wheelchair up a ramp in 45 secs dwell time?
Quite apart from the inconvenience, it’s a safety hazard. While I was waiting for someone in front of me to exit the train in Swansea the other day, she clipped the side of the ramp with her wheelchair and nearly overturned. I am sure I am not alone in finding that using these ramps is one of the trickiest manoeuvres I ever have to make. Add an audience and time pressure just increases the chance of an accident.
The only heavy-rail service in the UK that I have ever come across with level access is Heathrow Express. Now I read that those trains are to be replaced by Class 387s.
Among new-build trains, I think I have read that Crossrail and the Greater Anglia FLIRTS will be level access. Can anyone confirm this? Are there any others, existing or planned? What about Thameslink - how does one load a wheelchair up a ramp in 45 secs dwell time?
Quite apart from the inconvenience, it’s a safety hazard. While I was waiting for someone in front of me to exit the train in Swansea the other day, she clipped the side of the ramp with her wheelchair and nearly overturned. I am sure I am not alone in finding that using these ramps is one of the trickiest manoeuvres I ever have to make. Add an audience and time pressure just increases the chance of an accident.