Ideas Lab
Accessibility on trains
ANGELA CARBONI
Nowadays still making a train trip with a wheelchair for disabled people or a baby walker in Italy is a tiring and often unpleasant experience.
Leaving aside the operations of boarding and disembarking that enjoy (fortunately) the support of the railway staff in the station where the conformity of the track does not facilitate operations, unfortunately it is often difficult to move on board. The spaces are often narrow, few cars are equipped with walkways instead of steps and it is often necessary to leave the strollers in the areas intended for boarding and alighting, certainly creating inconvenience to other passengers as well as safety issues.
How could trains be designed to guarantee freedom of movement for disabled people in wheelchairs or travellers with pushchairs without compromising, for example, the current capacity of the vehicles?
What is the situation in Europe?
Comments
Hi Angela, please see link below to Hashirs work looking at accessibility for wheelchair users on public transport. Many of the issues are relevant to trains. Additionally, there is a bigger picture challenge to address the thinking behind the way it accessible travel is currently delivered, or at least attempted.
https://oip.transportgenderobservatory.eu/ideas-lab-contribution-152
3 years ago