Hello all, 

For todays blog post I thought I’d write about my trip down to London using assisted travel. As a visually impaired person I always use assisted travel when going on journeys which are not my normal route. 

I set off from Leeds at 11:15 I arrived in plenty of time for getting my train and to wait for assistance. We were told the train was running 10 minutes late but not to worry. The weather on this Friday was horrible and the river coming into Leeds was very high. There were no travel alerts saying not to travel. 

Once I was on the train and sat down my anxiety started to ease a little bit. But because I have always had an issues going down to London I was not able to fully relax. I had my ticket I checked my seat number, I was in the wrong seat. Worried about this I called my mum. She called the assisted travel people at Leeds and they said I was in the right seat and it was OK. I tried to relax. 

We got to Doncaster on time and I was looking forward to going down to London to see my brother. The train didn’t pull away from the station and I started to worry. After a while a message came over the tannoy that the train was being delayed due to signalling problems further down the line. I messaged in our family group chat that we had stopped and I didn’t know when we would be setting off again. 

15 minutes went by then a little longer, no announcement. My brother messaged to say the app was showing that it shouldn’t be too much longer. Then another announcement saying they didn’t know how long it would be. Someone else was on the phone and getting messages from someone saying it was signalling problems and that it should be fixed by 2:30…we should have been in London for 1:15. 

I was very stressed at this point and I just wanted to go home. Eventually after my mum contacted assisted travel and mentioned I was getting worried someone from the train staff came to talk to me. They assured me someone would meet me at the other end. 

After an hour we finally set off but were told the signalling problem was still not fixed. I was stressed because I didn’t want to get stuck at some random station if they terminated the train. Thankfully we organised that if this happened my Uncle could drive to get me. This eased my anxiety knowing I would have some help. 

But you have assisted travel why are you worried? I was worried because there were very few announcements on the train, that in the past the train has been terminated at a random station and I had to get myself off as the staff forgot about me, I was worried that the last time I went to London I was left on the train and member of the cleaning staff had gone to get someone to help me. 

We stopped at Grantham and we had to make a toilet stop as the trains toilets had run out of water. Thankfully I had made my way to the toilet, before this happened. Which is a good thing because no member of train crew came to ask if I was OK. 

Eventually we set off again and all of the tracks were flooded so we had to roll through the water over the lines. I was not happy at all, I had been on the train from 11:15 and it was getting into the evening. 

Finally we got to London and I was very tired and anxious. I was putting my coat on and some women asked me if I was OK and did I need help. I said someone was coming to get me but thank you for asking. I looked out the window and saw my brother on the platform talking to those women, he came on the train and helped me off. We waited on the platform while I sorted myself out. No one from the station had come to meet me and help me off the train. 

We walked back up and it was so busy all the gates were open. No one was allowed into station because no trains were leaving. The weather had stopped everything. 

By this point it was 6:30 when my train came in and I was very tired and upset. My brother had been waiting around since 1:00 to meet me. The tube would have been packed so we decided we would get in a taxi and everyone else had had a similar plan. 

We got back to his flat and had some tea because we had had a long day and we had lost the afternoon. We have raised a complaint with the Assisted travel and we should be getting our money back. 

On my way home, the assisted travel and been cancelled for some reason so they rebooked it and got me on the train. When I arrived at Leeds someone was there to meet me, got me off the train with my bag and helped me to my onward journey. Then I was met at the other end and I got home safe. 

Assisted travel, when it works, is wonderful. It allows people who need a bit of extra help to get out and about. My local train stations are wonderful. They always help me out. 

I appreciate station and train crew are busy but when you are offering a service you need to make sure you don’t fall short. Especially when the service is there to help Disabled people to travel safely. 

I felt let down by the service. 

But besides this I had a lovely weekend with my brother. 

Yes, I will write another blog about my weekend. 

Thank you, 

Philippa B.