And the hot topic of the day... Mixing wheelchairs and trains. Slightly better than buses, much cheaper than taxis and I'll never drive any distance, trains are my travel of choice when there's no one around to give me a lift. Without the rail service, I would be near completely dependent on others for travel, which is a piss poor way to live trust me. But there are disabled bus routes now, you say? Yes, there are, but odds on only every other, or every third bus is wheelchair friendly. In London ever bus is supposed to have a working and reliable access ramp; having been kicked off one bus is preference of a buggy, been driven past by two and had one go out of service in front of me
at the same stop, on the same day I can honestly say its complete pants.
So trains it is, but that in itself is terribly unreliable. Small local stations, providing they have 24 hour staff (like Broxbourne, wonderful station.) are fine. Perfect. Large stations with 24 hour staff are horrendous. And stations without 24 hour staff are a completely off limits. Today I travelled a 20 minute journey from Leicester to Kettering, and then back again. I like to travel with two friends; I like them a lot, and one can stay with me while the other runs to find the guy on the platform, thus ensuring the train doesn't leave with me on it and my carer not. On the way to Kettering, the guy at Leicester station told me I might have to wait an hour for the next train, as he couldn't put two wheelchairs on a train with a certain amount of cars. Whut? Are you going to tell all the nice able bodied people they can't travel? And how are you going to decide which wheelchair stays, and which goes? Oooh, I see. The old ladies who have no where to be have automatic priority over the fat 20 something with an appointment. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against those old ladies, and I'm glad they got where they were going on time.
The way back was even better. There were staff on Kettering station for sure; I saw them. But it was a bit cold, and so no one came to our platform. WTF? We had to get the guard off of the train and hold the train up to get on. The guard very nicely obliged us, but he could just as easily have told us to piss off. So today was a good day, but look at those margins for disaster. We have been refused boarding onto trains, often with hour and more waits for the next. Why? I didn't book help ahead. It takes two minutes to put up the ramp. Do all the nice able bodied people book at least a week in advance? Ithinknot. They've only ever tried to put me on a train replacement bus once; I caused so much fuss (with the crying and the wailing) that they put me in a taxi and sent me that way for no extra cost. And why not? It might not be their fault that works have to be done, but they could at least insist on disabled access buses.
What else, let's see... Well, I've had the book ahead lecture many times, often not even to my face. They like to talk to my partner, the one at the handelbars. Not everyone is the same, but the lecturers tend to be. The why are you travelling alone lecture. The you're not my responsibility lecture.
Not everyone is horrible. Like the guard from today, where ever you are, thanks. And the staff at Broxbourne station, or all the ones I've met, are stellar. The cashiers who give me sneaky discounts (I know who you are.) when I travel on my own. And the very nice people who are in carriages who see me alone, and offer to make sure someone gets me off where ever I'm going. All in all, trains are the better choice.
Random Fact; its actually a breach of health and safety for a person in a wheelchair to travel the Londond Underground.
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