JustBeingCP

On arrival at New Street railway station in Birmingham from Hereford this morning the wrong ramp was nearly used by the assisted travel team.

Thankfully the senior conductor from West Midlands Railway happened to be walking past the carriage I was in and realised.

He (the senior conductor) ensured that the correct ramp was used and waited until I was safely off the train and on the platform before leaving.

This is yet another disappointing experience at the hands of the assisted travel team from Network Rail at the station.

My message to senior managers at the organisation is this, please ensure that the customer assistants who are delivering the service are aware of which ramps to use for each train.

To say that I am fed up of facing the same type of issues over and over again at the station whilst using a service which I rely on and always will is an understatement.

Please start doing better when delivering the service because the current level of service being delivered is wholly unacceptable and shouldn’t be allowed to continue.

As I have said previously assisted travel is not a choice for people like myself when using the railways to keep some independence as a wheelchair user.

I appreciate that you currently have new staff within the team but that shouldn’t mean the assistance being delivered to passengers is dangerous.

A couple of years ago I faced this exact issue at the station and was forced to call it out with the support of ITV News Central.

That occasion saw the member of staff hold the ramp in place with his foot whilst I boarded the train along with a couple of other passengers.

More needs to be done to improve the service quickly.

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It is only right that I take the opportunity to thank the senior conductor from the operator for their support this morning, as always it didn’t go unnoticed and was very much appreciated.

Finally, thank you to each and everyone of you my regular loyal readers and social media followers who continually take the time out of your busy schedules to read my latest posts, it does not go unnoticed and is of course very much appreciated and always will be.

Cam