As many of you, my readers and followers will know I am an Aston Villa fanatic and attend our home matches at Villa Park as and when I am able to.
West Midlands Trains are making being a football fan hell on matchday’s because they don’t know how to deal with wheelchair supporters using the rail network to get to and from the ground before and after matches.
I have been fighting this issue for over 2 years now but it really came to ahead on Saturday the 18th of February this year when I visited Villa Park and watched Aston Villa take on the Gunners.
if you would like a reminder of what happened on that day you can read all about it here: https://just-being-cp.co.uk/2023/02/18/im-fed-of-traveling-by-train-to-aston-villa-matches-as-a-wheelchair-user/.
I wrote to the then CEO of Aston Villa, Christian Purslow later that day to express my dismay at the service being offered to the disabled villa supporters using the rail network to get to and from the ground on matchdays by West Midlands Trains.
I recalled some of the challenges that we face when using the network on matchday’s and how I feel about the support that is offered to us.
Aston Villa passed my letter onto West Midlands Trains for response because they are the train operator responsible for Witton (the station next to Villa Park)
I eventually received a response from Johnny Wiseman, Customer Experience Director at WMT (West Midlands Trains) who said that the operator had put a number measures in place to hopefully make our experience better and they included:
- Redoubling of efforts to ensure that they have as many trained members of staff available to deliver assistance as possible on match-days.
- Reviewing where staff are positioned post-match, so that they are ready to help customers requiring the use of a ramp to board services as quickly as possible.
- Reviewing their match-day travel advice to supporters in partnership with Aston Villa, particularly regarding the use of our pre-booked assistance service.
If you would like to read my full blog on the response from Johnny Wiseman at West Midlands Trains, check it out here: https://just-being-cp.co.uk/2023/04/03/west-midlands-trains-say-they-have-taken-steps-to-improve-the-standard-of-service-offered-to-disabled-aston-villa-supporters-at-witton
I then attended Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace on the 4th of March and failed to see any improvement from West Midlands Trains so I then took the decision to boycott attending Aston Villa matches until the end of the 2022/23 season.
I wrote to the Minister for Rail and HS2 on Sunday the 9th of April, sharing my experiences of what it is like attending football matches as a wheelchair user when using the rail network.
I received a very detailed response from the Minister on the 21st of July where I was informed that his officials at the Department for Transport (DFT) had asked West Midlands Trains to meet with me so my concerns can be discussed in detail.
I attended Aston Villa’s first home game of the 2023/24 season against Everton at Villa Park on Sunday the 20th of August and again experienced a shambolic service from the staff at WMT (West Midlands Trains) so have again taken the decision to boycott attending Villa’s home matches for the rest of the 2023/24 season.
If you would like to read all about what I experienced following Aston Villa’s match with Everton, you can do so here: https://just-being-cp.co.uk/2023/08/20/getting-from-villa-park-after-aston-villa-vs-everton-was-a-shambolic-experience-because-i-wasnt-supported-by-west-midlands-trains/
I posted a video on social media once I had returned to Birmingham New Street from Witton after the match and at the time of writing this piece it has been viewed a total of 2,654 times.
If you would like to both view the video and share my post it can be found here: https://twitter.com/cameron_woodhfd/status/1695398751475528063?s=46&t=sjaj0hcFb8FuNIsHWvdvwQ
I know that this is a very long and boring blog but I feel that nothing will change with regards to the service that we are offered by West Midlands Trains on matchdays unless we continue to call it out.
if you would like to receive my blogs direct to your inbox once they have been published subscribe here: https://just-being-cp.co.uk/.
I would like to end in my normal way by taking the opportunity to thank all of my readers and followers who take the time out of your busy schedules each week to read my blogs.
Cam
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