Rolling Traveler

The world as seen from a wheelchair

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Archive for the 'Public Transport' Category

Oct 14 2008

Get me off this crazy thing!

At the time of writing, I´m on a train, unsure of where I can get out. When I bought the ticket to Erkelenz this afternoon, and saw that I´d be traveling by regional train, I went straight to the service point to order the Mobility Service. There are two models of regional train in Germany: an older one with two or three steps up into it and a verticla bar in the middle of the doorway, and the newer double-decker models with the floor of the compartment for wheelchairs lower than the platform. Either way, there´s no getting on without help. Anyway, the man at the service point took dow my details and told me to come back 20 minutes before my departure time, which I duly did, only to discover that there´d been a shift change, and there was now no record of my having ordered any help. They didn´t even know if I´d be able to get on the train, as the Mobility Service staff were apparently all busy.

Of course, like anyone, I find this sort of situation extremely irritating, but I try not to go fro 0 to furious in 60 seconds, and instead attempt to find a solution. I asked if they could call again, and told them that I was going up onto the platform to wait. My real intention was to see if I could corral a conductor or a few passengers into helping.

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