Doug Paulley's blog

disability, data protection, activism and other such

Cornish Rivera sleeper wheelchair accessibility

Posted on by Doug Paulley

I fancied a trip so I thought I would try booking the above Sleeper. I’d read that whilst their old stock has no accessible sleeper accommodation, their new stock does, with an adapted cabin and shower. Their standard cabins are not accessible for wheelchair users, as the following from Matt and Vicki demonstrates

So I phoned Great Western Railway’s (GWR’s) assisted travel help line, to find out if the train I want to catch will have an accessible cabin. In the process, I discovered:

Locomotive-hauled rolling stock (Sleeper services)

There are no accessible berths.

Note: During the financial year 2015/16, the sleeper rolling stock is being refurbished which will include an upgrade of the existing accessible toilet in the seated accommodation and the provision of an accessible toilet and separate accessible cabin within the sleeper accommodation.

I recorded the phone conversation, and kept a transcript of the text direct call. It took 1 hour 22 minutes, and I still didn’t get told whether the service has an accessible cabin or not. They persisted in telling me that every cabin is wheelchair accessible nine times, even after I had convinced him to read GWR’s own leaflet that states it isn’t.

In the following transcript, my speech is in normal text, the relay operator’s is in italics, and GWR assistance department’s speech is in bold.

  • Note from relay assistant You are in a queue, do you wish to hold or try later?
  • Hold please
  • Pls wait… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… ringing…Explaining Text Relay, please wait…
  • Hello, it’s David from GWR Assisted Travel, how may I help?
  • Hello, please can you tell me if the sleeper tonight has a wheelchair accessible cabin on it and if so if it is still available?
  • OK, please hold the line, I need to check. I’ll be as quick as I can…
  • Note from relay assistant Holding… Holding…
  • Sorry to keep… I’ve checked, it will have a wheelchair bay but we can’t check for this evening as we don’t have enough time to arrange.
  • I am not interested in the wheelchair bay, I asked about the wheelchair accessible cabin. You have previously told me that you cannot tell until 8pm on the day of travel whether the train involved will be one of the refurbished ones with an accessible cabin on. So please find out if this one has an accessible cabin on it.
  • My apologies, I am not able to find that information. My manager has advised that we can’t find this out at this late stage.
  • Wait. Previously, your manager told me that they can’t find out until 8pm on the evening of departure. Now your manager is telling you that you can’t find out at 9pm. Are you saying that there is only an hour a day when you actually have this information, or what? In fact: put me through to your manager please.
  • Please hold the line one moment…
  • Note from relay assistant Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding…
  • Hello, thanks for holding. I’ve double checked with a manager and sales team, who have tried to book the chair accessible cabin for this evening, and confirmed it’s not possible for this evening, and my apologies.
  • I still want to speak to your manager please.
  • OK, I will check he’s free to take your call. Please hold.
  • You might want to tell him that if he doesn’t I am going to write a letter before action for disability discrimination counter to the Equality Act 2010 for failing to make a reasonable adjustment to a provision, criterion or practice that makes it unreasonably difficult for wheelchair users to use GWR’s service.
  • Note from relay assistant we are on hold, however I will read your comment when agent or manager returns.
  • OK.
  • Holding… Holding…
  • Hello, thanks for holding. My manager is not free right now as he needs to look into this and to confirm what you’ve been told previously. We will now need to call you back which will now be tomorrow, it can be arranged for a time convenient to you or before 12 noon tomorrow.
  • Don’t bother, I will jump straight to a letter before action under the Equality Act 2010 for failure to make a reasonable adjustment to a provision, criteria or policy that makes it unreasonably difficult for a disabled person to use GWR’s services. I have had enough of this ridiculous difficulty in booking the sleeper cabin, anybody would think that disabled people have only just been invented. I have been attempting to book this stupid cabin all blooming week. Right. Book me in tomorrow night.
  • OK, I’ll get a manager to call you back tomorrow evening and what time is convenient?
  • No, I specifically said I do not want a manager to phone me back. Do not call me back. No time is convenient. I do not want anybody to call me back. I shall simply start the legal procedure. in the meantime, do what I said – I’ve given you more than 24 hours notice now: book me in for the sleeper for tomorrow night.
  • OK, for booking a sleeper that will have to be done through our telesales team. I can transfer the call through so can take your…
  • Break. This is an assistance booking system. You are required under your licence with the ORR via the DPPP to book assistance and tickets in one go. So go ahead and book the assistance now. The wheelchair accessible cabin. Not the wheelchair space, the cabin. Go ahead and book it for tomorrow’s sleeper right now, don’t put me through to telesales.
  • To book the cabin it has to be purchased by our telesales team. I cannot do this myself.
  • I shall make sure that it is also in the legal letter, copied to the ORR, that you are not complying with your licence conditions to be able to book the wheelchair cabin directly with the assisted travel team. Meanwhile I shall purchase the cabin ticket online as we speak. Book the assistance now, please. Am I getting through, can I be any clearer? You are the assistance booking people. Book the assistance now.
  • Can I take your post code please?
  • [postcode redacted]
  • Thanks, and now your full name and first line of the address.
  • Doug Paulley, [address redacted]
  • That’s great. And now your journey details.
  • I am on the sleeper tomorrow. Paddington to Penzance.
  • That’s great, bear with me …
  • Firstly, please tell me whether the sleeper is one of the refurbished ones that actually has a wheelchair accessible cabin or not.
  • I’ll check all that ..please hold the line.
  • It’s been 30 minutes on this call so far, do you think you could just blooming do it?
  • Note from relay assistant I’m so sorry, we are on hold again.
  • Not your fault, and I am sorry for putting you through transcribing what must be quite a difficult and stressful call.
  • Not at all, and can I apologise for my speed as I have two damaged fingers after playing cricket.
  • ouch! I sympathise. no problem.
  • thanks…Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding… Holding…
  • Hello sir, thanks for holding. I have spoken to some people including our control team, and everything they have advised is telling me it will be wheelchair accessible.
  • OK, so please go ahead and book the accessible cabin. I will pay for the ticket online. and please book all the assistance.
  • OK, I’ll book the assistance now. What I have been advised, all of the cabins will be wheelchair accessible.
  • Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Look on your own website. The old sleeper stock had NO wheelchair accessible cabins. The new one has ONE accessible cabin on it. Even your own web site says that! If you book me a non-accessible cabin I will be absolutely incensed. Do not do that. Find out if there is an accessible cabin or not.
  • As I have been advised that all of the cabins are wheelchair accessible, I’m sure you understand I can only go off the information of what I have been advised of.
  • Look. There is no way on this earth that all the cabins are accessible. I am directly informing you that this is not the case. Your website says similar. Go off the information you are being advised by the GWR website, by the Disabled People’s Protection Policy, and by me. Your old stock sleepers have no accessible cabins. The renovated ones have one accessible cabin. This is most definitely the case, I have seen the plans, I have seen the videos even, I have read GWR’s DPPP, I have read it on your website. For once and for all: Old stock sleepers have no accessible cabins in them. New stock sleepers have one accessible cabin. Either tell me that it’s an old stock sleeper, or tell me it’s a new stock sleeper and book the accessible cabin. It’s not your fault you’ve been given duff information, but it’s not mine either and I will sue GWR for this.
  • As I have advised, I have been told that all of the cabins are wheelchair accessible, and I can only book assistance on and off the train and to a cabin, but I can not book a specific cabin as I have said that all cabins are wheelchair accessible.
  • All cabins are not wheelchair accessible. I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall here! You are supposed to be the assistance department and yet you think that all cabins on your sleeper are accessible! Whomever has told you that is fundamentally incorrect. How many times do I have to say it? Only one of the cabins is wheelchair accessible, and that is only on your new refurbished sleepers at that. Do not tell me again that all cabins are accessible as it is demonstrably not the case and you are winding me up even further. It is simply not true.
  • I apologise for this inconvenience and hassle, but I can only advise you what I have been told.
  • You must book the sleeper with the accessible cabin. how often do I have to repeat myself? Do it. If your bosses don’t know how to do it, then knock the managing director out of bed. Speak to a guard. Do whatever you need to do, but do not tell me that all cabins are accessible, because they aren’t. You clearly have never seen the sleeper yourself, nor the people you’ve spoken to, because it’s just ludicrous to claim that all the cabins are wheelchair accessible. Sort it out.
  • As I have advised, I can not book a specific cabin, I can only book assistance to a cabin, and the info I have been advised of that all cabins are wheelchair accessible. if you wish to purchase the tickets and the cabin, I will be happy to book you assistance, however i can not book a specific cabin.
  • Passenger Assist allows you to book a specific cabin, just as it allows any third party Train Operating Company or ticket agent to book a specific cabin, but in the meantime in any case you are the assisted travel department and I require you to inform me which coach and which cabin number is the assisted wheelchair accessible cabin. Do not tell me again that all the cabins are accessible, it is not the case.
  • The system will not allow me to book a specific cabin, and as I have told you, I have been advised that all the cabins are wheelchair accessible, and I am sorry this is not the information you have been told previously or found by other means.
  • The system will allow you to book a specific cabin, it is just that you don’t know how. I know the service specification of passenger assist inside out, just like I know your operator license, the obligations set by the office of the rail and road and the disabled person’s protection policy, and you have the ability to A) tell me which of the cabins is wheelchair accessible if there is one on the train, and B) to book it. Do so. Do not repeat yourself again, just do the job. If you can’t, knock somebody up who can. Do not come back to me and say “all I can do is go by what I’ve been told, all cabins are accessible”. Do not come back to me and say “the system doesn’t allow me to book specific cabins”. I know for a fact that both are incorrect. I have seen the sleeper with my own eyes, for Goodness’ sake! There is no way you can get a wheelchair in any cabin except the one adapted one on refurbished stock. Do not parrot the same thing back to me again: sort the problem.
  • I am sorry, however the system will not allow me to book a specific cabin. I cannot comment on any of your experiences with our system, however I have been shown how to book seats and under the same area it does not give me any options to book a specific cabin. I am so sorry that you feel that I am repeating myself, however I can only go off what I have been advised.
  • Can I break in please? OK. I am now quoting directly from GWR’s booklet “Making rail accessible: helping older customers and people with a disability”. Quote. “Locomotive-hauled rolling stock (Sleeper services) Mainline routes from London Paddington to Penzance. Designated Wheelchair Position: There is one wheelchair space with nearby seating for a companion in coach B. There are no accessible berths.” There is a note further on: “Note: During the financial year 2015/16, the sleeper rolling stock is being refurbished which will include an upgrade of the existing accessible toilet in the seated accommodation and the provision of an accessible toilet and separate accessible cabin within the sleeper accommodation.” So: how come you say that all cabins are accessible? Your old stock have no accessible berths at all. Your new stock has one, “a”, separate accessible cabin. One. Your own leaflet says so, in black and white, right in front of me. So whatever you have been told, by whomever, is demonstrably untrue and I require you to find out if the train tomorrow will have an accessible berth on it, or not. Do NOT come back to me and say that all the berths are accessible, or that you can only go off what you’ve been told. I am requiring you to find out for me, and not to accept what untrue information you have been provided. Clear?
  • I am sorry that you feel that the information that I have provided is untrue, however I am not aware of the leaflet you are reading and can only advise you of what I’ve been told. I am sorry, but all I can do is book you assistance on and off the train and to a cabin, as I have been advised that all cabins are wheelchair accessible. If you wish to escalate this further I will have to advise of either a manager’s call back, or you can submit a complaint in writing to either our Freepost address or our email address.
  • For Goodness’ sake. I will not be speaking to a manager or writing a complaint, it will go straight to legal. To be clear: you are David from the GWR assisted travel team. You are not aware of the leaflet “Making rail accessible: Helping older customers and people with a disability” which is held by GWR, is the key leaflet giving information on accessibility of GWR’s services and is half of the Disabled People’s Protection Policy, as mandated by the Office for Rail and Road within the Train Operating Company Licence, and is directly on the assisted travel page on your website. You have never read the leaflet that is about GWR’s accessible provision? And you are directly refusing to check that what you have been told is true? Even though I have given you incontrovertible evidence that it is most decidedly not the case that all of your sleeper berths are wheelchair accessible? Quoting your own leaflet on the subject? Why are you refusing to double-check? Are you that scared of your bosses? Because believe me, you will get it in the neck as will the rest of GWR when I issue for failure to make a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010.
  • I have now found the leaflet online, and I am looking at the section you refer to, and see what you are saying, however I have spoken with our control team who have advised that the service is wheelchair accessible. If you wish to take this through legal channels that will be your choice, and I cannot advise you to not do that, however as I have said I can only go off the information I have been told by our control team and managers.
  • Please go back to your control team and managers, quote what you have just read in that leaflet, and tell them that I want and need to know: A) Whether this is a refurbished train with an accessible cabin, and if so B) which coach and cabin number it is. Just to note that I have been on the call 73 minutes so far…
  • I understand, and I will raise what’s in the leaflet with our management and control team. However, they have advised it is, and all are wheelchair accessible.
  • Please go back to your control team and managers, quote what you have just read in that leaflet, and tell them that I want and need to know A) whether this is a refurbished train with an accessible cabin, and if so B) which coach and cabin number it is. What is it? Are you scared to phone them back? Have you been instructed not to bother them any more? Why is it that you are not challenging them?
  • Your call is being transferred to another relay assistant Reconnected to relay, pls wait…
  • So as I advised, I will raise this with our control team and our managers who will get this looked into, but I can only advise you of what they have told me, and that they have said all of the cabins are wheelchair accessible. I cannot tell you any other information than that. And as I have advised, if you would like to escalate this further, you will need to speak to one of our managers who can arrange a call back, or submit a complaint in writing, or alternatively you can go through your own channels if you wish.
  • I am phoning the assistance booking department. You are aware that your own literature states that there are no accessible berths on older stock and only one on newer stock. Yet you are not prepared to phone your managers and control team back to ask them to re-examine the situation. I still require the accurate information as to whether there is an accessible cabin on that train tomorrow night and if so which coach and cabin number it is. You have failed to explain why you are refusing to challenge your managers and the control team on what you have read and what you have heard from me, right now, in order to provide me with the information you are obliged to provide. Stop repeating that you can only tell me what you have been told, and find out the true information. Stop trying to tell me to write, or phone another time, or wait for a call back, or make a complaint, I want the information now, in this phone call. It is not an unreasonable request and you are just perpetuating the pain by making me carry on. Go back to your managers or the control team and find this information for me. By the way, I am of course recording both this phone call and the transcript.
  • OK, let me put you on hold for a few minutes please. Thank you.
  • 79 minutes!
  • Holding.
  • Hello Mr Paulley, I have spoken to our managers, and they have confirmed that this will be raised and it will also be raised with our control team. However, I am not willing to discuss this any further and I will have to terminate the call now. Thank you.
  • Other person has hung-up.

Non-wheelchair users can discover whether there’s a suitable berth for them and book it in seconds on the website or by phone…

Trapped Underground

Posted on by Doug Paulley

I got Trapped Underground recently.

Incident report

Here’s an extract from the London Underground official report.

Incident Description :- At 1852 a wheelchair customer pressed the help point at the hub, bottom of escalators 16-19.
Lift #6 had been advertised as being out of service from 0629 this morning.
The gentleman complained that escalator 6 was out. CSM answered the call & explained that we have advertised that we are not step free on the TFL website.
The man asked what he should do & was given the suggestion that he take the Piccadilly Line lift to the platform, take a train to Caledonian Road & then take a bus down. He said that he’d miss his last train from KX.
This displeased him & he started saying that it should be on a board at every station & that he has sued LU twice & would do it again. I again repeated that it has been advertised to which he asked if he’s supposed to go online every time he travels?
Mid rant, the help point cut out. I could see him on CCTV still talking. Then he started hitting the emergency button repeatedly, which caused it to stick & the alarm go off continuously in the control room.
CSM , CSS & CSA started to make their way over to the hub, calling CSA to meet them there.
When they arrived, the man started going on about LU not caring about disabled people. “If it was an escalator out, it would be publicised everywhere, but because the lift is only for disabled people, you don’t care”.
I explained that the lifts are not just for disabled people. They are for anyone that wants to use them.
He again repeated that he’s sued LU twice & this will be number 3.
He said that he had a train to catch from KX & it was his last train tonight.
Rather than stand arguing with him, CSM asked CSAs & if they felt comfortable using the escalator to take the man up on his wheelchair. The man was rather large, but both agreed.
The man was taken up escalator 16.
He thanked the 2 CSAs at the top & went on his way, still talking lawsuits.
Findings of immediate investigation (basic cause) :- Lift 6 out of service for door repair.
Customer hadn’t bothered to check the TFL website before he travelled.

Other than the fact that I didn’t say that “it should be on a board at every station” (and of course that I am extremely slim and lithe 🙂 )  the report is largely correct. But it gives a very different flavour from the experience. Compare the cold hard report above from the real stressful experience in the video…

London Underground policy

I submitted a Freedom of Information Request:

Please provide me with your procedures and policy as to what you should do if a station’s lift goes out of order. The lift went out early morning, but there was no sign on the gates as to what to do, no warning at Green Park or Westminster or in the other lifts at Kings Cross and so on. When I pressed for help at the information point, staff had no existing plan as to how I could get to the surface, and had to think on their feet. I want to know what should have happened, at Kings Cross and elsewhere, as a result of step free access suddenly being withdrawn. I also want to know what actions you would take if the escalator or the stairs are broken or obstructed, so that I can compare and contrast your approaches. Please provide me with all of this information.

They supplied the following London Underground policies.
I’ll tick ☑ the relevant ones they did, and cross ☒ the relevant ones they didn’t.
The ‘Station Presentation’ section of the Customer Service Supervisors / Managers Handbook states:

When a lift is out of service:

  • ☒ display a poster explaining that the lift is out of service
  • ☒ tell stations either side
  • ☒ display the information on the train operators boards

☒ Use general information boards to tell customers of the out of service lift as they might choose to use alternative routes.

The London Underground Rule Book 11 (Station Management) states:

(In relation to customer information boards)

You must display on customer information boards (where possible) information about any disruptions to:

  • the train service
  • ☒ any station facilities.

(In relation to station PA announcements)

You must make sure the following information is given to customers:

  • train service details, including train destinations
  • if the destination of a train is to be changed in any way
  • advice on platform train interface safety
  • ☒ details of any facilities that are not available
  • customer flow and crowd control instructions (where appropriate)
  • details of evacuation procedures (when needed).

In terms of what staff should do to ensure that a disabled person can complete their journey in the event of a lift going out of service, there are a range of options, and the appropriate option to use will depend on the particular circumstances.

Rule Book 9 (Lifts, escalators and moving walkways) states:

There are several options for discussion with a wheelchair user when a station is being evacuated or their planned route is no longer viable due to severe service disruption. These can include any combination of the following:

  • boarding another accessible train
  • using other step free access, if available
  • waiting in a place of safety until the service resumes
  • ☒ to be assisted up a moving escalator by two members of staff.

Wheelchairs are only permitted to be carried in the up direction on escalators at designated stations, with trained staff.

If an alternative route is to be used, you must confirm:

  • the route is viable for the wheelchair user, and
  • ☒ staff will be available along the journey, where needed.

I put a☒ against “to be assisted up a moving escalator” because I wasn’t offered that; I was simply told to catch the tube to Caledonian Road and a bus back and “there’s nothing else we can do.” Only when I mashed the emergency button until it broke did they pull the escalator option out of the hat.

The ‘Managing Customer Service’ part of the Operational Manager Handbook states:

You can book a special taxi, for example, in the following circumstances:

  • operational requirements
  • staff ill health issues
  • for customers (for example, a customer taken ill or last train cancelled)
  • ☒ for disabled customers if they are unable to use part of the network that is usually accessible to them

Information

  • ☒ If a lift at a step-free station is out of order, it might be appropriate to arrange a special taxi to help a disabled customer make part or all of their journey

Taxis booked on an ad hoc basis are called ‘special taxis’ to differentiate them from scheduled taxis.

In relation to stairs, if the stairs are broken or obstructed such that they can’t be used and there is no alternative route, the station would be closed.

In relation to escalators, comparisons with lifts are difficult because often there is more than one escalator in the same direction in a bank, so it is rare that there will be no escalator access. However, the point about booking a special taxi applies.

The ‘Managing customer service’ part of the Customer Service Supervisors / Managers Handbook states:

Non-availability of step-free access

Information

☒ London Underground has a legal obligation to provide alternative transport to a disabled customer if transport which is usually accessible to that customer becomes inaccessible.

If a customer who needs step-free access cannot use a step-free station and therefore cannot reach their step-free destination for one of the following reasons:

  • a lift is out of service
  • there is a planned closure
  • there is service disruption or a station closure (which means that a disabled customer would have a more difficulty continuing their journey)

or

  • an escalator or lift is out of service resulting in a disabled person, who is normally able to use a station is no longer able to
  • a disabled customer has experienced significant disruption to their journey (for example they were inadvertently sent to an inaccessible station and couldn’t alight)

☒ Make sure they are given help to plan an alternative accessible journey.

Check:

  • ☒ whether there is a bus or a rail replacement bus service which will take them to a step-free station en route (where they can continue their journey) or to their destination or, and
  • ☒ whether the bus is accessible for the customer
  • ☒ the alternative station is accessible to them

Information

A blue wheelchair logo on the Tube map means that a wheelchair user can board or alight. A white wheelchair logo means they are unlikely to be able to board or alight.

☒If there is a single accessible bus journey to the customer’s destination or a step-free station en route advise them of this. If there is not a single accessible bus journey you should offer an unscheduled taxi to the nearest available step free station en route or to their final destination if it is more practical.

Information

☒ Disabled customers are likely to experience a much longer delay to their journey than non-disabled customers when using alternative routes, if this is the case consider using an unscheduled taxi.

Oh look

I never got to use the tick ☑ 🙂

But of course, this whole thing was caused by the Hand of Fate and by my irresponsibility; as noted basic causes were “Lift 6 out of service for door repair. Customer hadn’t bothered to check the TFL website before he travelled.”

I’m very sorry for the inconvenience I caused London Underground by my selfishness.

West Yorkshire Police say: report bus drivers who refuse wheelchair users

Posted on by Doug Paulley

Picture of a policeman's helmet in a bus wheelchair space

I’ve got West Yorkshire Police to recognise that a bus driver who refuses a wheelchair user access to an empty wheelchair space on a bus is committing a crime and should face punishment.

Disabled people, bus companies and drivers should all be made aware that such crimes should be reported to the Police.

The Police Crime Commissioner said:

I have heard back from West Yorkshire Police now. They have confirmed that bus drivers refusing access to wheelchair users is a summary only offence which can be enforced by the police.

Any reports of access issues would be logged and an enquiry conducted on the evidence available. Prosecutions could subsequently be considered.

The police would therefore encourage anyone to contact the police if they believe they have been a victim of this crime.

They have taken steps to ensure the Force’s Contact Centre staff are informed to ensure that any calls are handled appropriately.

Contact the Police by live chat, phone, SMS text or Text Direct.

Under the same legislation, drivers are also under a criminal law obligation to:

  • accept passengers with assistance dogs
  • allow a wheelchair user on to the bus even if the wheelchair space is occupied, if passengers and/or their effects in that space can readily and reasonably vacate it to another part of the vehicle
  • work a ramp or boarding lift (including by using the manual override if an electric mechanism is broken), when a wheelchair user wishes to get on or off, e.g. when a wheelchair user presses the special blue button to show they want to get off
  • help wheelchair users get on or off
  • enable wheelchair users to access and leave the wheelchair space
  • kneel the bus if they think a disabled person would benefit from it and/or if asked to do so
  • make sure the bus is displaying the correct route number and destination.

The above duties are criminal duties on a driver, separate and added to the duties under the Equality Act. Failure to comply with the duty may result in a driver’s criminal conviction, a fine of up to £500 and endorsements on the driving license.

I would encourage disabled people and their allies to contact other Police Forces / Police and Crime Commissioners, to encourage them to take similar proactive action.