You don't have to be in a wheelchair to get help moving around or carrying a suitcase on the British rail system. I took a trip from Paddington in NW London to Fishguard in Wales and pre-booked on line assistance with my two pull-along suitcases.
I was amazed how well the system worked. I was told to find an official at each station and inform them that I had arrived and needed help.
At Paddington I was helped up from the underground to the overground. We proceeded along the underground corridor, my assistant taking the larger case whilst I pulled along the smaller one on four wheels.
I was accompanied by a character busy on his walkie talkie. We had just reached the ground level and light and bustling Paddington station when a siren and announcement told everybody to leave the station immediately. I was very glad to be having help because I could foresee a longer walk out of the station and back and I was very anxious about being able to reach my train in time.
Fortunately, just after we left the station and gathered in the road leading towards it, the Tannoy told us we could return.
On Paddington station I was taken to an office where other people with wheelchairs and sticks were waiting. The office had a screen showing the times of trains and whether they were on time and the platforms. Best of all, the office had a disabled toilet. I had been wondering how I would manage to negotiate a public toilet with two pieces of luggage, getting through the barrier without leaving behind a suitcase, and then getting into a cubicle.
Outside on the concourse the public disabled toilets have a key or radar recognition system. Who has time for all that?
I was so relieved (literally) to see the disabled toilet. I was also saved the anxiety of letting go of my two suitcases, handbag and umbrella, whilst hunting for coins to operate a toilet barrier.
Finally, along comes a man on an electric cart, the sort you see at airports and conference hotels with golf courses.
The electric cart took my luggage and sped us along. Not only did it carry the luggage. The driver knew which platform had my train. (You can be confused at a big station at any age.)
The electric cart not only went fast, it had a bleeper so that people moved aside to let us speed along. Finally, it had a system for opening barriers so we rushed along the platform to the far end of the train. The driver knew which carriage. (Otherwise on some long trains, you might easily by boarding one end of the train, anxious not to miss the train, struggling along with two suitcases past everybody else.
The only worry left was that my booked seat was the far end of the carriage, but my suitcase was left in the luggage rack by the door. The rack by the door is three levels and takes a maximum of nine big suitcases. I had two, the large one and the smaller one with what I needed for the journey, reading matter and food. If you have a computer, or camera, or anything else valuable, you might want to keep it in a smaller bag which can go with you and be put in the overhead rack above your seat. The train to Wales was very full, so I kept to my assigned seat.
We had lots of stops - lots of opportunity for somebody to grab a suitcase which was not theirs and race off. It's not just an idle worry. I saw a newspaper article only a few days before my journey showing the CCTV of a person wanted for taking somebody else's luggage. The CCTV showed them getting on the train without any luggage, then getting off with a suitcase. (The suitcase belonged to somebody who later reported it missing.) Another risk is that somebody with similar luggage, suddenly arriving at their station, will grab your similar black or red bag, and only realise they have the wrong bag as they land on the platform and the train runs off.
Nine spaces for large luggage is not many on a train with 50 or more seats. Fortunately on the way home, the train was relatively empty. I sat by the door, and watched my luggage all the way, especially when the train stopped, to reassure myself my luggage was there - and remind myself to collect my second case as I left.
At another point when I changed trains (at Cardiff) I had only to change from one side of the platform to the other. By then I was quite ready to summon to my aid any passer by. I've found that people of both sexes and any age are willing to help in the UK. A young woman or old man travelling are as willing to help as a young man or station employee.
I discovered by accident that if you stop and hesitate in a doorway of a train, holding up a dozen people behind you, somebody kind person, or impatient traveler, will quickly jump forward to assist you.
So if you need help, or have an elderly relative, somebody with lots of luggage who is easily confused, or anybody with a leg in plaster, or a pregnant woman, a blind person, anybody who needs help, you don't have to actually be in a wheelchair to register for help.
At Carmarthen the station staff carried one of my suitcases for me to the waiting room. (I pulled the smaller suitcase which was a spinner case on four wheels.)
He came back and collected me when the train came in and got me to the door of the carriage with my seat. I took the easy way out and just sat in the nearest seat where I could watch my luggage. If the train had been full, I would eventually have moved to my assigned seat. But the seat I sat in was not allocated, and it was under a notice saying that people in need had priority.
On my return to Paddington I was speeded on the electric cart over to the lift.
A successful journey, far less stressful than I had feared.
What do I need for next time? Locks on luggage - as it may go out of sight. Maybe an old phone or computer switched on so you can find it with the find my phone/laptop ap. Finally, a blow-up pillow to sleep on the table on a long intercity journey.
TIPS FOR DISABLED TRAVELLERS
Checklist:
1 Suitcase lock and key.
2 Travel pillow.
3 Water bottle, sandwich and nuts/chocolate/biscuit.
4 Book a seat and register online for assistance.
5 Tickets in a specific handy pocket (such as top or lower right if right-handed).
6 Duplicate/photocopy of all tickets one one sheet in order, with a pen to strike through part of the journey completed, so you can check your destination and seat numbers without risking dropping the actual tickets. (I had six tickets for my journey. Two tickets because I changed trains. Plus two tickets for seat reservations on the longer journeys.)
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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