National Express wheelchair lift

[whole diary]

[Eliza]

I don't think I've read on this forum about National Express's wheelchair space on its long distance coaches, and, as importantly, the lift from the ground to the somewhat elevated aisle of the coach.  I think it would otherwise be 4-5 steps to climb.  We used National Express a year ago, instead of the train, and I have to say that all went well.  The platform lift emerges electronically from under the bottom step and 2 (or 3?) guard rails are unfolded.  The wheelchair passenger is pushed on to the platform, which rises slowly, and once in the coach, the driver pushes the passenger into the space and buckles him up.

I was reminded of this yesterday, when I phoned our local tourist information centre, which is an agent for National Express, to enquire about the wheelchair space.  "Oh, there's nothing like that on National Express!"  The Falcon service, from Plymouth to Bristol Airport, also offers the same lift and space, although we have never used it.

[LiskeardRich]

Any scheduled coach service is legally required to have the wheelchair space.
All national express services have the same style lift.
Falcon, megabus and Flixbus services likewise are all accessible with wheelchair lifts fitted

[grahame]

I'm not a huge National Express user ... but I do recall one of these lifts being used to get a passenger off the coach in Milton Keynes.  Struck me (as other things do) that such procedures can be a bit undignified for the user, but there's a whole can of worms on that thought. Rather sadly, having managed to unload the passenger at Milton Keynes, the mechanism refused to be packed away and the coach service there terminated ... another along in half an hour for Oxford, but that missed train connections and home to Melksham 2 hours late.

It's really good to see wheelchairs wheeling on and off flat access modern trains - I think it might have been coming off at Tottenham Court Road on the Elizabeth line as we got on the other week - the very fact it's unnoticeable is "three cheers".  I wonder if and how it could be made less intrusive and easier to use elsewhere.

[Eliza]

Thank you Grahame and LiskeardRich for your replies.  The mechanism for getting a wheelchair user into the coach was unwieldy and certainly delayed the coach's departure but the worst part for me was waiting at a bus stop, with no shelter or  information available, for the coach to turn up.  I felt very much out on a limb.  By contrast, our larger train station is a haven, with a waiting room, toilets, electronic displays and STAFF.

[LiskeardRich]

Grahame, the double deck coaches in use between Bristol and London on national express have a much better wheelchair loading system, the downstairs being almost pavement level helps!
When I’ve used a coach lift as a driver, it’s taken around 10-15 mins to load the wheelchair user.

[TaplowGreen]

I'm not a huge National Express user ... but I do recall one of these lifts being used to get a passenger off the coach in Milton Keynes.  Struck me (as other things do) that such procedures can be a bit undignified for the user, but there's a whole can of worms on that thought. Rather sadly, having managed to unload the passenger at Milton Keynes, the mechanism refused to be packed away and the coach service there terminated ... another along in half an hour for Oxford, but that missed train connections and home to Melksham 2 hours late.

It's really good to see wheelchairs wheeling on and off flat access modern trains - I think it might have been coming off at Tottenham Court Road on the Elizabeth line as we got on the other week - the very fact it's unnoticeable is "three cheers".  I wonder if and how it could be made less intrusive and easier to use elsewhere.

Just read this and ironically this popped up elsewhere.....

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/disabled-woman-forced-sit-plymouth-7428429

[bobm]

The irony of that incident was it was caused by driver error during emergency single line working and not a passenger pulling the passcom.  The delay ensued because the unit would not reset and it took a fitter a while to cure the problem.