Rail travel 'anxiety inducing' for blind passengers

A blind man who regularly travels to London from East Sussex by train has claimed that the process is "anxiety inducing" because of the inconsistent nature of the passenger assist programme.

Railway campaigner Paul Goddard, from Crowborough, was born partially sighted and has been registered blind since 2008.

Goddard has reflected on the difficulties of travelling following the recent government announcement that 19 station accessibility projects, including in Wivelsfield and Maidstone West, will no longer proceed.

GTR, which operates Southern Trains, said it had decided to trial a "dedicated Assisted Travel Coordinator to oversee all assistance at London Bridge".

Passenger assist allows customers to book assistance in advance, and be helped throughout their journey.

However, Goddard claims he has issues with the service both at his local station and at London Bridge.

While Crowborough is staffed in the mornings, he says travelling at any other time is "very challenging".

"I'm literally left to my own devices to negotiate the station," he said.

When arriving into London Bridge, Goddard says there is nobody to meet him "99% of the time" despite a reservation having been made on the passenger assistance app.

New research by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) reflects this experience.

Three in four of nearly 1,200 blind and partially sighted people surveyed across the UK say they cannot rely on rail staff, with 44% being reliably met by assistance staff at stations.

The inconsistency is really tough, Goddard says, adding that he already feels "anxious" about the prospect of travelling next week.

Carl Martin, accessibility lead at GTR, said: "We care passionately about making our railway accessible for everyone and work closely with blind and partially sighted people to improve our services."

Martin added that following a previous meeting with Goddard about the issue, the company decided to trial a "dedicated Assisted Travel Coordinator to oversee all assistance at London Bridge".

Plans to improve 50 stations were announced by the previous government as part of the Access for All (AFA) programme, which was created to improve the accessibility of Britain's railway.

Last week, it was announced that 19 projects would not proceed, a decision Goddard says he is "disappointed" by.

"That, for me, simply says that they are not interested in accessibility," he said, urging the government to show "some respect" to blind and partially sighted passengers.

A Department for Transport spokesperson (DfT) said: "Everyone should be able to travel safely and with dignity, which is why we are working with the rail industry to strengthen passenger assistance, investing almost £280m in step-free access and lifts."

The DfT added that the relevant 19 projects "did not fully meet the prioritisation criteria at this time" but were not ruled out permanently.

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