A series of posters and videos have been launched by a train operator to further promote the assistance it offers to passengers with disabilities.
The 'This Is Me' campaign by Southern features a number of the operator’s disabled passengers talking about the assistance they receive when travelling and what this allows them to do. Their feedback has been put together on posters, leaflets and a webpage that includes further details, as well as a video of the individuals and their feedback on the service.
Southern is promoting a number of messages with the campaign. They include:
- In 2014, Southern staff provided booked assistance for almost 10,000 passenger journeys
- Over 90% of Southern stations have a form of step free access
- Southern is investing over £1 million improving the accessibility of stations this year
The feedback and thoughts of the individuals have now been included in Southern’s training package for new staff.
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David C S Bartlett - 10/06/2015 10:17
The real problem seems to me to be the fact that Transport for London are doing a lot to bring in level boarding by various means and I have been monitoring what is happening with Crossrail. There are stations with humps, there are platforms level with the train all along - eg Dalston Junction where I live - and there are the new District and Metropolitan trains designed to align flush boarding with the existing platform heights Yet on Network Rail there appears to be not the same effort. It is the flush boarding which is the critical feature for an individual to be truly independent.
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DavidC S Bartlett - 12/06/2015 10:08
The main problem for disabled users of Network Rail stations - as contrasted with Transport for London stations - is the lack of flush boarding from the platform surface to the train floor. This is what will enable truly independent operations of wheelchairs and other devices. TfL has for many years now been promoting humps on the platforms, and now all the tube stock on District and Metropolitan services have been designed with a lower floor which levels with the train floor. Not perfect but a huge leap forward; whereas Network Rail (unless you count Crossrail's central underground stations) stops well short of this whilst providing level access as far as the platform surface.
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