Great Western Coffee Shop

A partialy sighted friend of mine travelled with 3 other blind people one with a guide dog from Chippenham to South Wales (via Swindon and Gloucester) late afternoon on Sunday (27/7).

Whilst they had stand from Chippenham to Swindon it also began to look as if they would have to stand to Newport/Cardiff (via Gloucester).

However, the train manager moved them into First Class thus giving them a much more pleasant journey.

The train manager should be commended for his actions, a simple gesture but one which will go a long way to restore peoples' faith in rail travel and give reassurnace to blind and other disabled people that travel by rail even in crowded conditions can be a pleasant experince.

To paraphrase Mark Antony the good men do is often forgotten whilst the bad lives on.

So full marks to that train manager.

Sometimes, I get flak, as a passenger member here, for being more pro-staff than some staff - but I stand my ground.

And here's yet another example of just why.  One of FGW's very many 'customer-centric' colleagues has clearly taken the initiative here, made a practical decision based on those circumstances - and made all the difference to those passengers.

Well done indeed, to that train manager!   :)

But not so well done for all the passengers who didn't give up their seats for those clearly less able to stand. (I thought hard before writing this thinking "Would I", and yes, I do think if I saw four blind and partially sighted people I would vacate my seat for one of them.) 

... and thanks for posting that, John: that, too, was my 'unspoken' thought on that particular subject.

I've been happy to give up my seat in a row of two airline seats (or indeed, on one occasion, my sole seat at a table) as soon as it became apparent that a couple (or family, in the latter case) were looking for some seats where they could be together.

On each occasion, I noted their disproportionate gratitude - clearly, it doesn't happen as often as it should!