Trains / mob scoot

Hi All!
Hope you are all as well as can be!

Question!
Has anyone tried to take a mobility scooter on a train lately?

I was hoping to go to the Abergavenny food fair in a couple of weeks time.
Great I thought, I will be able to use my scooter from my house to the station, catch the train on it and then spend the day
riding around Aber with my friends sampling the various foods on offer (plus a few beers) and then catch a train home.

Can you imagine how crest fallen I was to find my type of scooter does not ā€œconformā€ to the maximum allowable
limits for train travel!
What happened to the guards van?!

Surely this is descrimination in itā€™s rawest form.

Anyone got any ideas what is or can be done about it?

Take Great Care!

Steve.

Hi Steve,you must have one hell of a scooter.When Iā€™m on the ā€˜Veyronā€™ powerchair weā€™re talking 200kg.The train ramps on the Wirral line are 300kg max weight and if memory serves(MEGALOL) the Inter City ramps are the same specā€™.

The last time I travelled Inter City the guard who hobbled up with the ramp said I wasnā€™t allowed on,'cos I was on a scooter,back in the days when I could sit on one. Iā€™d just bought a ticket,told him and his supervisor mate to get smartened up because a photographer from the Liverpool Echo would be arriving if the ticket was not honoured

I have spoken with an Echo reporter a couple of times and her number is in my phone.Whether or not sheā€™d have thought I had a story weā€™ll never know.They let me on the train and there was no more hassle.May I humbly suggest that you make sure of your facts,maybe have some paperwork and next time tell them to leave in short jerky movements.

Regards, Steve

hiya

i am a powerchair user and have just recently started using the train service. boy-have i had my eyes opened! each train company has a policy. they vary slightly i think. but as with buses they view scooters and chairs differently (rightly or wrongly!)

i guess that powerchairs get priority cos that is the only way we can mobilise. scooter folk are usually of slightly better mobilty. i know i am summarising here so please forgive me. but from the operators point of view they have to make the best standard decision to fit most (not all!)

its a minefield trying to keep us all happy-primarily cos we are all unique but they have to have one rule!

is ur scooter huge? possible to hire one when u get there?

i hope u find a solution that suitsā€¦

ellie

1 Like

Hi Ells,been a while.Youā€™re right Lassie,there should be one rule,but when was anything helpful ever introduced across the board?I think what all of these carriers are afraid of is injury to their staff,the motorized passenger or an ā€˜innocentā€™ bystander.Which ever Government introduces manatory training for mobility gear users will face the same fate as the one that fiddles about with the 70 year olds driving licences.

Iā€™ll be alright provided there isnā€™t another Hitā€™nā€™Run incident like there was on monday.For the fourth time I was lying on the road next to an overturned Veyron.An occupational hazard and Iā€™m alright,but its away again to try and remedy an ongoing problem with the suspension.Ā£6,500 of German poo poo.

We are way down the list of priorities of problems to solve and like you said E, ā€œItā€™s a minefield and weā€™re uniqueā€.You might need a passport to come on here in a few days E,so be naughty whilst you can

Wb

hiya wb!

one rule for all is asking for the impossible! ā€˜theyā€™ (whoever they are!) decided we should all be equal and be ā€˜entitledā€™ (detest that word!) to be treated equally. i dont expect favouritism (only a few extra seconds to be fair) to get onto the bus/train. however the bus only has room for one wheelchair and train only 2 so the transport companies have to decide best way to suit most.

i know the easy option (and several have told me so!) would be to stay in the house! so me and my kids would be starving, naked and bored but at least folk wouldnt see it!

ellie x (who is having a bad day so please allow me the sarcasm just this once!)

You may find this page helpful: National Rail Enquiries - Passenger Assist and it has links to the specific train company or companies website/s. If you need clarification, ask the train company; if you believe that you should be able to travel, politely but firmly challenge them. It is unlikely that all staff have read and remember everything in all their policies (I know I donā€™t remember everything in all the policies I need to follow in my job!), but if you have read their policies you are in a much stronger position to argue.

Good luck, I hope you get to go.

1 Like

Hi Everyone,

Iā€™ve had much the same experience as many others; that is varies from operator to operator. whether or not you can take your scooter on a train. Usually you canā€™t unless you can carry it onto rhe train! Unfortunately Iā€™ve given up on the idea of being able to use the train which causes me a lot of problems as Iā€™m now unable to use public transport.

I wonder if anyone has taken this to the Equality and Human Rights Commission as a case of treating disabled people unfavourably. Does anyone want to follow this up?

There must be thousands of people who come across this problem.

Diane X

Hi mate i know nothing of this subject so cant advise but i would certainly contact your local paper as you have as much right as the next person to board the train if they sell you a ticket just buy it sat in the scoot and turn up then if theyve seen the scoot when you bought the ticket they would surely have to honor it anyhoos hope you get there and have a great day buddy let us know how you get on bud

respect Sheep