Oct
14
2008
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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Oct
07
2008
I’m supposed to be going to Hanover on Friday, and while the trip is now in doubt because the tail end of the cold I brought back from Poland has turned into the flu, complete with shivers and aches, I had already gone through the process of booking a train ticket, and what a process it was. Deutsche Bahn run a generally good service that I’m satisfied with, but with being sick, the run-around of trying to make the seat reservation was more than a little irritating. German institutions tend to have rules and procedures, and people with authority love reminding you of them.
As I’ve mentioned before, it’s important to call and let them know when you’re traveling with a wheelchair, just in case there’s a reason you can’t travel. In the case of the Inter-City Express trains in Germany, the issue is one of space: there are only a couple of wheelchair berths per train, sometimes only one. You have to reserve the berth or risk not being able to travel at the time you wanted, because they can’t take more wheelchairs that they have berths. However, you can’t reserve the berth online: I’ve always had to do it by phone. Not this time though.
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Sep
25
2008
When I first went to London with my wheelchair, I discovered that the Tube was no longer a viable option for me. For a brief time, I thought getting around was going to be very awkward and slow, involving complicated bus routes with several changes of bus, not to mention a little stressful, as I was sure I would have to spend the whole time with my eye on the street signs to make sure I didn’t miss my stop. However, while the buses are slow because of the city’s traffic congestion, the routes were more straightforward than I thought, and the drivers are very good about announcing stops that have been requested. Not only that, all but two of the city’s bus routes are fully accessible, and free of charge to wheelchair users. Even better yet, my friends Tom and Eric found a bus route so perfect for my needs in the city, it was like I’d planned it out myself. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the number 23.
Besides being perfect for my needs, I believe the 23 is a great bus for any tourist who wants to plan a day seeing a good chunk of the city’s tourist attractions. Of course there are many things to see in London that aren’t on this route, but it has enough to plan a great day out around.
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Sep
20
2008
Imagine you’re taking a trip from Los Angeles to Cracow, and you’re trying to work out the best price. You have found some good deals for LAX to London Heathrow, but from there to Cracow seems expensive. However, you’ve found a low-cost airline running a flight there from London Stansted that leaves 5 hours after you land, and flying that route would be a significant saving. The two airports are both London airports, but could you make it from one to the other in time? 5 hours seems like a lot of time, and there is a coach that is supposed to get from Heathrow to Stansted in just 90 minutes: surely that would be a feasible option.
Well, much as it sounds like you could make it, you might want to think again, especially if you’re a wheelchair user. Continue Reading »
Sep
18
2008
London is certainly a well-connected city, with five large international airports connecting it to destinations worldwide. The two main airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, are well-known destinations for tourists and businesspeople from all over the world. The other three have flights to many European destinations, but few or no intercontinental flights. Stansted and Luton are well outside the Greater London area, and get most of their business from low-cost and charter airlines and cargo traffic, while London City Airport, situated in the Docklands of East London, serves the city’s financial district and seems to get more businesspeople passing through it than tourists.
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Sep
16
2008
The message of this post is simple: if you’re a wheelchair user planning a trip to London, don’t count on the London Underground. Although Transport for London promises assistance to disabled passengers and does not require wheelchair users to be accompanied on journeys, an analysis of the details of a London Underground journey show that even with staff assistance, there are very few places in Central London that a wheelchair user can realistically go.
The Tube, as it is also known, serves 268 stations in 26 of London’s 32 boroughs, but of those stations, only 49 are fully accessible to wheelchair passengers. Furthermore, of those 49 stations, only 10 are within zone 1, the area of most interest to tourists, and all of those are near its outer limits. To get into the other 219 stations, you need to use stairs and/or escalators, and if you’re thinking of riding the escalators in your chair, as some wheelchair users can, forget it. TfL states that wheelchairs can only be taken on escalators if folded, and only people who can step onto and off an escalator unassisted may use one. Even registered assistance dogs must be carried on moving escalators, according to the TfL web site.
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Sep
16
2008
Gatwick, (IATA code LGW) is the second major international airport in the London region, serving around 200 destinations and up to 35 million passengers a year. It has two terminals, North and South, linked by a rapid automatic transit train with a 2- to 3-minute journey time. Despite being smaller than Heathrow, Gatwick presents a little more difficulty to wheelchair users, so give yourself the same amount of time before departure if you’re flying from there.
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Sep
15
2008
With five major international passenger airports you certainly can’t complain that there’s no choice when it comes to getting to London. However, it can be a little confusing if you’ve never traveled there before. Which airport is the best one to fly into? Is an hour enough time to make a transfer within Heathrow? Can you transfer from Heathrow to Stansted? I’d like to kick off my look at accessible London by explaining a little about the five airports, starting with London Heathrow.
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Sep
13
2008
I went out for a couple of beers with my good friend Alan tonight, and I thought I’d do a little counting to illustrate what going out for an evening in Europe can mean with a wheelchair in tow. I even brought a tape measure. Alan and I are both living and working as ESL teachers in Dusseldorf, the state capital of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, and we chose to go out in his neighborhood, Bilk, to a bar called Piranha. I went by public transport, unaccompanied, in my Ti Lite TX, an ultra-light manual chair.
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Aug
28
2008
As I mentioned on Monday, San Francisco has a comprehensive public transport network that includes MUNI bus services to every neighborhood and two light railways, MUNI Metro and BART. These three interact well: the city’s BART and MUNI stations and major stops are all on bus routes, and the weekly and monthly MUNI FastPass is good for all the bus and Metro lines and for the BART within the city limits. The network is wheelchair accessible, with the buses rating Good, the Metro rating Good, and the BART rating Very Good. There are a few things to note about each service when planning a journey.
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