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12 January 2011
Last updated at 21:48 ET
Some disabled passengers are being left stranded on trains or waiting on platforms despite requesting assistance from rail firms, according to a survey.
Watchdog Passenger Focus monitored nearly 200 "mystery shopper" journeys by travellers with visual or mobility impairments.
One said they were "left alone at the edge of the platform" and felt "very vulnerable and frightened".
But 70% said they were satisfied with the service they booked.
The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said any poor service was "unacceptable", but added that the survey did not reflect improvements to services for disabled passengers in recent years, with more planned.
Passenger focus chief executive Anthony Smith said while some "excellent examples" of customer service had been found, as well as improvements in the assisted passenger reservation system, there were still too many cases where the system was failing.
Among the negative findings was one traveller who reported finding the service by staff "poor and bordering on the comical", while another said they had encountered rude staff.
However, other disabled passengers found the service "outstanding and excellent".
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
Some 70% of the mystery shoppers - who included wheelchair users - said they were satisfied with the service they received, having booked through the assisted passenger reservation system.
Mr Smith said: "There were too many instances of staff not being adequately trained, people being left stranded without help and, in some cases, not being treated in a decent or dignified way.
"These problems must be sorted out for today's passengers and those who will be putting the service to the test during the (London) Olympics and Paralympics in 2012."
Atoc said train companies had been working closely with disability groups, Passenger Focus and the rest of the industry to improve the service.
"Where there have been cases of disabled passengers failing to receive the level of service they expect and deserve, clearly that is unacceptable.
"However, the Passenger Focus survey does not properly reflect the real improvements in the service offered to disabled passengers in recent years.
"Millions of pounds have already been invested in improving access for disabled passengers and significant progress has already been made. More disabled people than ever are choosing to travel by train."
They added that train companies had acknowledged they could be doing more, and would this summer be launching an improved passenger booking system that had been designed and tested with help from disability groups.
'More consistent' Office of Rail Regulation chairwoman Anna Walker welcomed the level of passenger satisfaction shown in the report.
"But clearly the rail industry still has some way to go in providing satisfactory support for disabled passengers," she said.
"The industry is taking positive steps by developing an improved booking service - but vulnerable passengers are calling for a system that they can rely on, and today's evidence shows it is not there yet."
She added that the recommendations would be discussed with the Department for Transport, and rail firms would be asked to set out clearly how it intended to deliver an improved, more consistent service.
Transport minister Norman Baker said the government was investing £370m in making the railways more accessible, as well as additional funding of £150,000 to Atoc to improve the assisted passenger reservation system during 2011.
"The government is determined to progressively reduce the number of people who find it difficult to access public transport," he said.
A report published last October found more than half of Wales' railway stations were not fully accessible to disabled people.
The Welsh assembly equality of opportunity committee highlighted "significant shortcomings" and called for action but Arriva Trains Wales, which runs most of Wales' stations, said it was committed to improving access.
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Watchdog Passenger Focus monitored nearly 200 "mystery shopper" journeys by travellers with visual or mobility impairments.
One said they were "left alone at the edge of the platform" and felt "very vulnerable and frightened".
But 70% said they were satisfied with the service they booked.
The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said any poor service was "unacceptable", but added that the survey did not reflect improvements to services for disabled passengers in recent years, with more planned.
Passenger focus chief executive Anthony Smith said while some "excellent examples" of customer service had been found, as well as improvements in the assisted passenger reservation system, there were still too many cases where the system was failing.
Among the negative findings was one traveller who reported finding the service by staff "poor and bordering on the comical", while another said they had encountered rude staff.
However, other disabled passengers found the service "outstanding and excellent".
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
These problems must be sorted out for today's passengers and those who will be putting the service to the test during the Olympics and Paralympics”
End Quote
Anthony Smith
Passenger Focus
Some 70% of the mystery shoppers - who included wheelchair users - said they were satisfied with the service they received, having booked through the assisted passenger reservation system.
Mr Smith said: "There were too many instances of staff not being adequately trained, people being left stranded without help and, in some cases, not being treated in a decent or dignified way.
"These problems must be sorted out for today's passengers and those who will be putting the service to the test during the (London) Olympics and Paralympics in 2012."
Atoc said train companies had been working closely with disability groups, Passenger Focus and the rest of the industry to improve the service.
"Where there have been cases of disabled passengers failing to receive the level of service they expect and deserve, clearly that is unacceptable.
"However, the Passenger Focus survey does not properly reflect the real improvements in the service offered to disabled passengers in recent years.
"Millions of pounds have already been invested in improving access for disabled passengers and significant progress has already been made. More disabled people than ever are choosing to travel by train."
They added that train companies had acknowledged they could be doing more, and would this summer be launching an improved passenger booking system that had been designed and tested with help from disability groups.
'More consistent' Office of Rail Regulation chairwoman Anna Walker welcomed the level of passenger satisfaction shown in the report.
"But clearly the rail industry still has some way to go in providing satisfactory support for disabled passengers," she said.
"The industry is taking positive steps by developing an improved booking service - but vulnerable passengers are calling for a system that they can rely on, and today's evidence shows it is not there yet."
She added that the recommendations would be discussed with the Department for Transport, and rail firms would be asked to set out clearly how it intended to deliver an improved, more consistent service.
Transport minister Norman Baker said the government was investing £370m in making the railways more accessible, as well as additional funding of £150,000 to Atoc to improve the assisted passenger reservation system during 2011.
"The government is determined to progressively reduce the number of people who find it difficult to access public transport," he said.
A report published last October found more than half of Wales' railway stations were not fully accessible to disabled people.
The Welsh assembly equality of opportunity committee highlighted "significant shortcomings" and called for action but Arriva Trains Wales, which runs most of Wales' stations, said it was committed to improving access.
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