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Author Topic: Disabled customer "humiliated by GWR staff"  (Read 34817 times)
IndustryInsider
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« Reply #30 on: September 24, 2016, 10:38:14 »

Probably the best course of action would have been to advise her to stay on the train until Maidenhead and then either get her on the next train back to Slough (making damn sure they were aware of her coming), or offer her a taxi from Maidenhead to her destination.

Certainly having a 'guard' on board does make this situation less likely to happen as there's a good chance the driver didn't even know she was on board*, let alone where she was going, whereas a guard would probably have been made aware.

Ultimately a mistake from GWR (Great Western Railway) compounded by a very unsuitable station next along the line and, according to her reports, rude and unhelpful staff.  Like I said though, the assisted travel arrangements normally do work without a hitch - though there's always ways of trying to make it better of course.

* The one area where things could be immediately improved is if the driver on DOO (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) services is made aware by staff of location and destination of passengers where assistance is essential.  They sometimes are, but by no means always.  They need not get directly involved, but can at least summon assistance if it is not forthcoming.
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chrisr_75
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« Reply #31 on: September 24, 2016, 11:20:40 »

The one area where things could be immediately improved is if the driver on DOO (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) services is made aware by staff of location and destination of passengers where assistance is essential.  They sometimes are, but by no means always.  They need not get directly involved, but can at least summon assistance if it is not forthcoming

This is exactly why I mentioned the way LUL (London Underground Ltd) handle these things - it seems to work quite well whenever I have witnessed it, although obviously requires platform/gate line staff being present and sufficiently on the ball
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dviner
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« Reply #32 on: September 24, 2016, 17:38:45 »

According to the report, she only ended up at Burnham because no-one had helped her off the train at Slough, despite informing staff at Paddington prior to departure.

I do wish posters would absorb all the primary details reported upon before commenting.

The report skipped around a bit in it's timeline, but putting it back into sequence, it goes:

  • Staff at Burnham refused* to help her board (helped by friend and member of public)
  • No staff helped her off the train when it arrived at Paddington
  • On return journey staff encouraged her to get off at Slough, as Burnham does not have step-free access
  • Left on train at Slough as no staff to help her off
  • Continued to Burnham
  • Staff at Burnham initially refused to help her off the train, but were eventually persuaded.

* "refused" being the wording in the article.

Burnham isn't a great station for the able-bodied let alone ones with mobility issues, and the National Rail site states there is no step-free access, and no ramps. I suspect that the DMUs (Diesel Multiple Unit) that service the station don't carry ramps either, so getting a wheelchair or mobility scooter on and off the train will be a matter of manual lifting - and that's before bringing the steps to and from the platform into consideration. Therefore, it's no surprise to me that the staff at Burnham would be unwilling to help.

I'm ignoring the claims of rudeness.

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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #33 on: September 24, 2016, 21:41:43 »

............so what lessons do GWR (Great Western Railway) take from this incident (taking into account that they have apologised and acknowledged that the service and the customers experience was not what it should have been), and what should they do to prevent a reoccurrence or similar failure?

It's an ideal example of failure to use as a case study. Feedback is a gift, and any good Business will use it to highlight and address failures in process, learn and improve. If I was the customer, receiving a letter detailing what went wrong from GWRs perspective and what is going to be put in place to prevent it happening again would be extremely powerful. It's certainly something that my organisation does, but then again we put the customer first.

I'm told that consideration is being given to a "You said - we did" area on the GWR website - a great idea, and one that would give some credibility to GWR's claims of commitment to customer service, rather than simply saying "we have logged your comments".
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« Reply #34 on: September 25, 2016, 12:18:47 »

............so what lessons do GWR (Great Western Railway) take from this incident (taking into account that they have apologised and acknowledged that the service and the customers experience was not what it should have been), and what should they do to prevent a reoccurrence or similar failure?

They could do what I suggested in post #30 for a start.  They could delve into the reasons why assistance wasn't forthcoming at Slough on the return journey as most of the rest of the issues wouldn't have happened if that error hadn't been made - it may well have been something as simple as a human mistake - that can happen, TG in any business, but the processes can be looked into and perhaps tightened up.

And then there's the longer term things like making the trains more disabled friendly in general (Call for Aid button by the disabled seating on the new 387s being an example - as the crew can be alerted if assistance isn't forthcoming), installation of lifts at busier stations where practicable (Burnham is of course getting lifts for Crossrail as are all the other stations), Slough and Maidenhead have had lifts installed quite recently.
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« Reply #35 on: September 25, 2016, 16:18:15 »

According to the report, she only ended up at Burnham because no-one had helped her off the train at Slough, despite informing staff at Paddington prior to departure.

I do wish posters would absorb all the primary details reported upon before commenting.

Did you read it? Coz it says she went from Burnham to Pad in the second para, and was not helped off at Pad. No one would have known she was on the train if she hadn't booked assistance & would likely have been found by the cleaners (not trained to help!)
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chrisr_75
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« Reply #36 on: September 25, 2016, 18:10:27 »

According to the report, she only ended up at Burnham because no-one had helped her off the train at Slough, despite informing staff at Paddington prior to departure.

I do wish posters would absorb all the primary details reported upon before commenting.

Did you read it? Coz it says she went from Burnham to Pad in the second para, and was not helped off at Pad. No one would have known she was on the train if she hadn't booked assistance & would likely have been found by the cleaners (not trained to help!)

Yep, absolutely. She went from Burnham to Paddington first, helped onto the train by a friend. Return journey she informed staff at Paddington who advised her to travel to Slough as it is the nearest accessible station to Burnham. Not helped off the train at Slough so was over carried to Burnham.

Network Rails own website, which I provided a link to, clearly states that no booking is necessary for assistance at Slough station.

I suggest you refer to the précis of events provided by dviner a couple of posts above.
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Eliza
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« Reply #37 on: September 28, 2016, 10:41:49 »

My husband has been using Assisted Travel very successfully for the past 3 or so years.  Initially, it was to request priority seats for him and me at the end of the carriage, because his walking is limited. Now, it's also to request help to board, where the station staff carry on his folded, manual wheelchair, which is treated as luggage, and they usually take the suitcase as well.  We tend, where possible, to travel on HSTs (High Speed Train) or Voyagers and avoid trains with non-reservable seats.  The station staff, who help us, are all very pleasant.  Through experience, we know that CrossCountry has more accessible toilets on its trains than GWR (Great Western Railway), and that their press button doors are easier to operate than GW (Great Western)'s handle etc, etc.

I often wonder if the system could cope, if more and more elderly and/or disabled passengers travelled, with each traveller requiring individual attention.


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« Reply #38 on: September 28, 2016, 11:46:08 »

My husband has been using Assisted Travel very successfully for the past 3 or so years.  Initially, it was to request priority seats for him and me at the end of the carriage, because his walking is limited. Now, it's also to request help to board, where the station staff carry on his folded, manual wheelchair, which is treated as luggage, and they usually take the suitcase as well.  We tend, where possible, to travel on HSTs (High Speed Train) or Voyagers and avoid trains with non-reservable seats.  The station staff, who help us, are all very pleasant.  Through experience, we know that CrossCountry has more accessible toilets on its trains than GWR (Great Western Railway), and that their press button doors are easier to operate than GW (Great Western)'s handle etc, etc.

I often wonder if the system could cope, if more and more elderly and/or disabled passengers travelled, with each traveller requiring individual attention.

Good to hear you've not had any problems, Eliza.  Good point regarding the toilets, though hopefully with the arrival of the new trains for GWR you will find the imbalance in access is resolved.

Interesting point regarding how the system will cope with more assisted travellers.  Obviously when you build the facilities into stations and trains it will encourage people to travel who may otherwise have been deterred.  Obviously a good thing it that respect, but it will put more and more strain on the staff and the system.
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« Reply #39 on: September 28, 2016, 14:11:59 »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-37493466

Quote
An eight-time Paralympic gold medallist says she was "stranded" on a train waiting for an exit ramp.

Sophie Christiansen, who won three gold medals in dressage at the Rio games, commutes from Maidenhead to London for her job as a technology analyst.

The wheelchair, who has cerebral palsy, user took to social media after a ramp on a Great Western Railway (GWR (Great Western Railway)) train was not available.

GWR and Network Rail have not commented on the issue.

The 28 year old, who was awarded an OBE in 2013 for her services to equestrianism, said on her Twitter account on Monday: "What a welcome back by @NetworkRailPAD and @GWRUK - no ramp off train!"

She said: "I travel quite regularly into London. While I am grateful for the assistance I do get... quite often there is a breakdown in communications between the two stations and I end up stranded on a train with no ramp."

Currently disabled passengers are expected to book disabled access assistance up to 24 hours in advance of their journey.

Independent watchdog Transport Focus found that four in 10 passengers who booked disabled assistance did not receive any aid.

Miss Christiansen said: "I think in this day and age I just find that unacceptable. If able-bodied people can travel spontaneously, why can't we?"

Transport Focus passenger director David Sidebottom said: "The spontaneity of train journeys is something that needs to be improved for disabled users."

Miss Christiansen said she would be willing to help develop an app on behalf of GWR to allow disabled people to book assistance.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #40 on: September 28, 2016, 14:21:00 »

Problem solved as soon as Crossrail takes over the station
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #41 on: September 28, 2016, 22:51:52 »

Problem solved as soon as Crossrail takes over the station
  "........not my problem mate"  Roll Eyes
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #42 on: September 29, 2016, 00:11:53 »

My husband has been using Assisted Travel very successfully for the past 3 or so years.  Initially, it was to request priority seats for him and me at the end of the carriage, because his walking is limited. Now, it's also to request help to board, where the station staff carry on his folded, manual wheelchair, which is treated as luggage, and they usually take the suitcase as well.  We tend, where possible, to travel on HSTs (High Speed Train) or Voyagers and avoid trains with non-reservable seats.  The station staff, who help us, are all very pleasant.  Through experience, we know that CrossCountry has more accessible toilets on its trains than GWR (Great Western Railway), and that their press button doors are easier to operate than GW (Great Western)'s handle etc, etc.

I often wonder if the system could cope, if more and more elderly and/or disabled passengers travelled, with each traveller requiring individual attention.

Good to hear you've not had any problems, Eliza.  Good point regarding the toilets, though hopefully with the arrival of the new trains for GWR you will find the imbalance in access is resolved.

Interesting point regarding how the system will cope with more assisted travellers.  Obviously when you build the facilities into stations and trains it will encourage people to travel who may otherwise have been deterred.  Obviously a good thing it that respect, but it will put more and more strain on the staff and the system.
Surely the ideal for both staff and disabled passengers would be to have such facilities that passengers required virtually no assistance. Step-free access to all platforms is an obvious and relatively easy, if potentially expensive, beginning; access from platforms to trains is somewhat harder – presumably something could be achieved by standardising the heights and platform to door gaps of all rolling stock and platforms, maybe enough to get most wheelchair and stick users across a much reduced gap, but would probably require rebuilding almost every platform and redesigning almost every carriage. So no.
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chrisr_75
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« Reply #43 on: September 29, 2016, 00:53:00 »

access from platforms to trains is somewhat harder – presumably something could be achieved by standardising the heights and platform to door gaps of all rolling stock and platforms, maybe enough to get most wheelchair and stick users across a much reduced gap, but would probably require rebuilding almost every platform and redesigning almost every carriage. So no.

Again, something that London Underground have succeeded with, in terms of coming up with a cheap and cheerful alternative to the complete rebuilding of platforms - standardised rolling stock on each line or group of lines of course, but they have addressed the issue of platform to rolling stock height by installing a simple raised, ramped platform edge which coincides with the section of the train where wheelchairs can fit. Very simple and effective design solution.
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« Reply #44 on: September 29, 2016, 01:34:52 »

I would imagine (and hope) that the central London Crossrail stations would have platforms as per the tube stations - I.e. the same level as the entrance door so no portable ramps required.
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