Traveling, Trains in Europe with a wheelchair

It has been more than a month since I wrote. I thought I would write a few notes here rather than wait till I have more time. At the beginning of June I went to London. In July, I went to Holland twice in less than two weeks taking the train both times. The first time was to shadow Gian in his work to understand his business - since he wants us to do his website. The second time was to go to the IWIPS conference.

London

I went to London to see Yuyu and attend a one day STC UK conference. In London, we tackled the public transport system because she lives in Slough and we had to take  the train and then  the bus to get to London and back. Some buses were accessible but the ramp did not always work - we took the bus  from Paddington to go to the British Library. The bus driver on the bus we took from Paddington was not very helpful - Yuyu was not familiar with pushing a chair and I have never gone on a London bus. But we got there. It was definitely easier to take a London cab - they are equipped with ramp s although most of the drivers seem happier just to lift me onto the cab rather than get the ramp out. London cabs are very expensive though. I am not sure what the alternative is. After the explosions of 7/7 in London, I am not so sure that about that I want to use  the tube but I wonder how people in wheelchairs get about in London. With difficulty I expect!

The trains at  Paddington Station was another matter.  I know  I am meant to give plenty of notice but I do not always know when I would get there. The guards on the platforms to get the ramps out were never there and at one point, the bus driver got his telephone out to summon them. He refused to go without us and the guard came running and told us he had no time to get the ramp out and just lifted me onto the train. It would be funny except that it would not be funny if it is a regular occurence. The reason the train driver refused to budge without us was because it had happened to him too - his wife is disabled.

Slough seems fairly accessible and life would be manageable there but friends ask me if I would really want to live there-remembering Betjeman's poem on it. Lot's of Indian restaurants and even the pizzerias seemed to be Indian owned! I found out one lunchtime that nobody delivers except for pizzas! And as I am not a pizza lover, I might have to seriously consider other solutions than rely on delivered meals if I stayed any longer in Slough.

We also ventured into Chinatown and had a Malaysian meal in a kopi tiam type restaurant.. There were also steps into the restaurant. Patrick, who was with us, had to negotiate a barrier free route to the ICA building where we were to have a meeting with him and Nico, two of uigarden advisors.

The buses at Heathrow terminals seem fairly accessible, however. I took one to get to the airport so as to catch a train back to Paddington to get my Eurostar connection. I needed someone to find a guard for me to unlock the bariers designed to stop trolleys going to the platform. He turned out to be a very nice German who flew over for a meeting. We started talking about web accessibility. I cannot remember if I could have roll on on my own onto the train.  I think the guard got out a ramp and I was supposed to be met at Paddington.  But I didn't see anybody - maybe they didn't get enough notice. Again, it struck me that disabled travellers arriving at Heathrow might not know how to work the system - even  if they spoke English.

Access in London is a useful guide.

Brussels

I didn't see much of  Brussels  apart from the Grande Place and  the stations.  The train guards seem fairly friendly to me. Just as in France, you have to go to an information point and ask for assistance.
I broke up my trip to Amsterdam and met Jay for lunch. Jay works as a graphic artist and he is working on a book. He seems to me to be the quintessential French man - except he is Belgian, with his beret. He had been waiting for me at the station for more than an hour - because he wanted to make sure that I got off okay - he gave them that much notice. Obviously he didnt have much faith in the SNCB. He pointed out some of Brussels places of interests and told me that it is a place where you have to know to be really having a good time. For me, it is an administrative capital.   Funnily enough he took me to the same restaurant as did Gian the week before- Chez Vincent. Apparently it is less of a tourist trap than the others. There is one step into the restaurant and it seems fairly cramped but the ambience is nice and the mussels were great. Where we were in Brussels, it seems like a city full of cobblestones. Surprisingly, the Novotel hotel, where I was staying a week before,  near the Grande Place had nice big accesible rooms.

I found this interesting article about barriers in Brussels - looks like I ought to go to Barcelona instead.

Amsterdam

First of all, the Dutch train system seems rather complicated to me. I must admit that my first experience was rather negative. We were delayed in Brussels Nord for more than an hour because there was a problem with the Dutch train system. When we got on eventually, without any warning, they said we were stopping at Schipol instead of Amsterdam Central. A guard got me off but he didn't come back to put me back on the train to Amsterdam Central so I was left there. I went up to the airport and raised enough of a stink for them to get me some help - by which time, Gian had told me to stay there and he was coming to Schipol to meet me. He had waited for near three hours.

The second time, I arrived at Amsterdam Central and got off the train fine and met my friend, Gudrun. She came to meet me in a lovely pink suit that stood out. She's also incredibly tall and had to stoop to push and I had to hold her fake Gucci handbag. She was merry about it being a fake and she took me to "in de aap gelogeerd" pub which she says is one of the oldest pubs in Amsterdam. I had a whisky with her and soon it was time to go back to the station and meet Brechtje and go back to Laren with her on the train. Brechtje had kindly invited me to stay with her - we had got in touch because of the UPA Montreal conference but as things went, I wasn't able to go and she invited me to come for the IWIPS conference instead.

To go to Hilversum station, we had to call 3 hours in advance for the ramp to be there. Later we found out that it was because the person with the keys to the ramp actually lives a couple of villages along. He services quite a few stations. It seems slightly incongrous to me that the station staff are not allowed to get ramps out - are they afraid of being sued? The man did say to Brechtje that he would be responsible if we tried getting on the train on our own and some mishap should happen. (he was late so we missed the train into Amsterdam). From Laren, where Brechtje lives, we had to get a train taxi ( a taxi service alligned with the train). It was quite a track.

Brechtje and her husband and their three kids have a lovely house. They brought me down a bed and I was very comfortable but the journey into Amsterdam was to say the least, a bit long. I started wondering how other disabled Dutch people do it. The IWIPS conference was great. The building was accessible and I bring away a couple of memories - being carried into a boat and up a flight of stairs for an Indonesian dinner. I don't think that Amsterdam is an accessible city - none of the trams are accessible but it seems like it can be manoevrable with an electric wheelchair since there are so many bicycles. I suppose if one gets into a routine-the train people might get used to being available for the ramps.

This link might be useful for those going to Amsterdam - Amsterdam - Disabled Traveller