Disabled people need to be better looked after on trains

[Purplelife]

I feel they need to be better looked after, maybe given first class seats for free, when the trains are packed and non- disable pigs refuse to get up from the disabled seating.

Did anyone see this upsetting story about a blind man who got on a train to Waterloo with his guide dog. Not one commuter got up to let him sit down in a disabled seat and watched this poor bugger in tears as well as his guide dog sliding around on the wet floor.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5556695/Blind-man-reduced-tears-stands-London-Tube.html

I think it’s an absolute disgrace that not one person on that train had an ounce of humanity. I know I hate standing up and struggling to balance myself on the train. Imagine what it is for someone blind. This man’s career before going blind was working in emergency as a doctor looking after others!

I wish I had been on that train, I would have spoke up and shamed the lot of them! Grrr!

I travel regularly with disabled family on trains and generally find people considerate. There are one or two specific stations where things happen like prebooked help not arriving but we generally have good experiences especially in London.

I have to say though that because I’m quite aware of issues surrounding traveling in London when disabled I’m also very aware of the man who posted this and the extraordinary amount of problems he seems to face traveling around London all of which have appeared in the Daily Mail and on his monetised YouTube channel.

I have to say I’m not 100% convinced all his experiences are entirely genuine and I think a lot of it is staged money making click bait and we’re not seeing the full story.

The housing sector need to up their game as well. Last Nov our HA issued a tort notice saying DH had to get rid of his mobility scooter or they would take it and sell/destroy it.

After kicking off on social media i got a visit from them discussing the possibility of them building us a shed for DH to store and charge it in but they did also say the way they went about this initially was still correct as its "policy"

Helena, how bloody aweful. If they have done this to your DH, then obviously they have bullied others. Obviously they think the vulnerable are fair game but typical they back down once you stand up to the ba$tard$!

They have.

NOT our case but similar.

www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=4082

thats not our HA either. Its rampant across the sector.

Grade A cunts the lot of them.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3095770-to-worry-that-the-Grenfell-Tower-fire-is-now-being-used-as-an-excuse-to-bully-disabled-tenants

A gp card would only work with reasonably stable disabilities/ conditions. Not for eg a mobility problem that is only sometimes bad enough to need a seat.

I suppose it might work for frail elderly people, but eg not necessarily for the fit 70yr old who can stand happily for a few stops but needs a seat for a long journey after an exhausting day.

Ditto injuries/ short term issues. Not everyone in a plaster cast needs a seat, or simply because they are pregnant. Others very much will.

Of course if you give passes to everyone who might ever need one it would be too many to seat, and of course some people with milder/ temporary problems are perfectly capable of being selfish when they don't genuinely need a seat that day. Eg dd genuinely couldn't stand once on a badly sprained ankle and was given abuse by a lady demanding her seat because she was 6 weeks pregnant. Just kept repeating 'but I'm pregnant' when dd pointed out the numerous seats further up that she couldn't hop to herself.

And I think if everyone assumed all genuine seat needers could get a pass, those that couldn't would be ignored even more. Similar to blue badges and the people who think people using parent & child spaces can't really be anything but lazy because if they needed it they'd have a bb.

It would also be a nightmare guessing how big a space each single train would need.

Hence why I think cultural change is the only way to do it.

I was physically assaulted on an underground train last October, because I couldn't move quickly enough for some twat. I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome, and use sticks. He grabbed me and shoved me out of the way, and shouted move
No-one looked, said anything or cared.

The announcements made at each station should include something about looking out for people who need a seat more than you do.

Trains and buses in the U.K. are so undisabled friendly -that’s without taking the public into account.
I deliberately book trains I don’t need to change on, then the rail line puts the carriage my seat is in out of service after a certain station. They only explain this verbally - I’m hearing impaired. We don’t need first class seats, just simple things can make travelling more disabled friendly. That’s not to mention the glarea I get for sitting in the priority seats when I don’t have my stick.
I had my stick with me after a 3 hour flight s had to stand for about 40 mins and queuing to get into the airport off the tarmac - people were pushing me out their way bd nearly knocked me over in their haste, it’s so rude!
Essentially, if people would stop being dicks and operators put a bit of thought into things, life would be so much easi r.

Don’t get me started on Uber!

I'm not doubting anyone else's experiences, but I've been really lucky in this regard - I travelled into London three times last week when 24 weeks pregnant (carrying 'big' but still clearly not 'heavily' pregnant) and on every single journey, train and tube, was offered a seat. I said no because I don't actually feel any more like I need one at the moment than usual, but I was surprised that people were so willing to offer.

You don't put people in different sections of the bus that's weird. Also how do we know if all those people weren't disabled too. When are we going to get decent affordable trains its cheaper to fly half the time.

This story made me cry (I’m 7 months pregnant, hormonal mess).
Why are there so many arseholes in this world. Makes me very sad.

A good idea might be to put the wheelchair space in the first class carriage. Considering they’re mostly empty, even in rush hour, it surely wouldn’t be too difficult to take a block of seats away for wheelchair space? And if you’re travelling with a disabled person then the train company could allow you to sit in 1st with them.

Glad to see people here being sympathetic. On one of the visually impaired groups that I belong to, people with visual impairments themselves were slamming the guy. But people tend to have the impression that everyone should be able to do everything The same way.

Usually, people offer me a seat when I need it. I don't always need one, I had a stress fracture in my foot last year though, was walking with an orthopedic boot and crutches along with my cane, I could barely keep my balance standing still, let alone on a moving train. Thankfully people always gave me a seat.

Seats reserved for people with disabilities, should be given to people who need them. That's what they were therefore.

I travelled on the Tube with my mum, in her late 70s, with her lower leg in a plaster cast. No-one offered her a seat until I made some loud pointed comments and then a couple of teenage boys got up. It was as though no-one had any empathy, or thought “how would I manage if that was me?”

I agree with the comment in the other thread about there needing to be allocated storage/ charging areas. They need to get with the times and realise so many people rely heavily on mobility scooters these days.

You’ve made a great point there, hogfather. You’re right a cultural change is needed and I also think we need to start getting that across in the schools.

Oh Tova, I’m sorry to hear that. I can imagine it would be very difficult to want to catch trains or be very paranoid and frightened after that incident.

Troubled, I really like that idea. On the rare occasion that I have been put in first class, either because my train was canceled, or other reason, it has been very comfortable and not full.

It’s not just disabled people, I remember getting the train home on my last day from work at 8 months pregnant. It was a rare hot summers day.
Plenty of people sat down who declined to offer their seat. I was soon offered one when I nearly collapsed due to the heat!
Then to top it off a businessman felt it was his place to open his mouth and state it was my own fault for being pregnant and working!

First Great Western actually do a card that you can have to help access priority seating. I’ve not got around to getting one yet. But YANBU. Trains for us has turned into an absolute stress. It’s not practical to book ahead and neither should people have to really. Especially with disabilities that are so unpredictable.

My heart sinks at Bristol Temple Meads nearly every time. Like 500 people on the platform and then a train with two carriages turns up.

We’ve had some awful experiences on the train. This awful bullying family were screaming at my son at Weston Super Mare on the train once. And another time he was sat in priority seating and a man with a huge pram was shouting in his face to move. It’s fucking unfair.

Mobility scooters are highly combustible and a particular danger. My Dad was advised in a fire safety check it was best stored in an outbuilding and never unattended when charging and that’s in a single private dwelling.

They are a massive hazard with the potential for causing serious loss of life in buildings containing multiple dwellings. The manufacturers need to improve their safety rather than Housing Associations being to blame for taking necessary precautions.

That story is so sad. What a world to be bringing up our children in.
My DH was in London working last week and was shocked at nobody offering their seat to a guy with a cast on his leg and crutches on a packed train carriage. He was nearer the back and couldnt attract his attention but his colleague went to fetch the man and DH gave him his seat. The man was extremely grateful and was in pain. He had been at a hospital appointment apparently that afternoon. His wife (who was picking him up) gave DH and his colleague a lift to their hotel after discovering that they were going to get a taxi at station.

The other day I was waiting in a queue as you do, and the lady in front of me remarked on “ we’re English, we queue” and that’s all fine and dandy but that politeness and respect needs to be carried over to other areas of our society, obviously.