Bernina Express in a Wheelchair: Rhaetian Railway blame the victim

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On the Bernina Express recently, there was no wheelchair space in the panoramic coach despite my booking the wheelchair space months in advance. Rhaetian Railway, which runs the service, didn’t even warn me before I arrived.

tl;dw (Too Long, Didn’t Watch) – This caused me great distress, as it was a bucket-list trip I had been planning and looking forward to for months. The train company didn’t even warn me that there wouldn’t be my booked wheelchair space. I eventually forced my way onto the train but had to transfer into a seat and fold my wheelchair up. I had to get my companion to carry my wee in a bag to a toilet, as there wasn’t an accessible one. The train company subsequently explained that the accessible coach had been replaced with an inaccessible one due to an air conditioning fault. They gave me a free drink and offered a 56 CHF refund (£48.70), which I find insulting.

I have received their report of the incident (through a Right of Access Request.) The results demonstrate a common tactic of discriminatory organisations: to gaslight, blame and lie about the disabled person.

In domestic abuse, there’s a common term for the undermining behaviour of abusers: DARVODeny, Accuse, Reverse Victim and Offender. Mine is a very different situation from domestic abuse, but I do find the term “DARVO” apt for Rhaetian Railway’s response.

Incident Report

Their incident report is in German. Here are my English translations of the relevant bits.

Description:
On train 974, we had no accessible carriage despite a wheelchair reservation having been made on 16th April. The passenger was uncooperative; he refused to travel on the next train and also wouldn’t travel in the Allegra unit at the front of this train. We called the border police to find a suitable solution for both parties. In the end, the passenger got on the train, thanks to the staff in Tirano. In consequence, we left Tirano with a 42-minute delay. We gave the customer a free drink (15 Swiss francs) because there was no accessible carriage. The person accompanying the passenger took a video of us, but the police found nothing on his mobile phone.

Detail:
As a rule, all Bernina Express trains have two First Class carriages: one “normal” and one for disabled people.
Unfortunately, this composition is not always possible for various reasons.
Messages about wheelchairs arrive months in advance. They are not always confirmed or accurate. For example, whether it is an electric or manual wheelchair.
We have had problems of this kind before, but the passenger has always shown understanding and accepted our solution.
In this case, the passenger behaved disrespectfully towards the other passengers on the train.
In the end the passenger could get out of the wheelchair and the wheelchair could also be loaded on board.
Our engineer removed the seat in front of the passenger’s watchful eyes. The engineer then had to reinstall the seat because the passenger requested to sit on the seat, not in the wheelchair.

This is untrue and profoundly offensive on multiple levels.

  1. They seem to think it is OK to sometimes run a train without wheelchair access to the panoramic coaches. I don’t.
    They have as much duty to accommodate wheelchair users as to accommodate anybody else. We have a right to our booked accommodation.
    The idea that having an accessible carriage is “not always possible for various reasons” totally undermines wheelchair users’ rights. Other train operating companies don’t have this approach.
    The Bernina Express webpage says, “There are special seats available on the Bernina Express for passengers with impaired mobility who cannot leave their wheelchair.” It doesn’t say there usually or often are wheelchair spaces or that they aim to provide such—it says there are such, as there always should be (and always are in the UK).
  2. Their problem with the frequent inaccuracy of wheelchair booking information is irrelevant (albeit telling in itself!). They knew I could not walk and had booked the wheelchair space—as shown in the booking confirmation in their report. They had my reservation, including my phone number. The very least they should have done was contact me to warn me my booked space was unavailable. They did not.
  3. Why should I show “understanding” and “accept their solution“? Non-disabled people aren’t expected to forego their booked accommodation in the panoramic coach or to travel on a later train because the train company hasn’t provided their seats – and they would have a legitimate gripe if treated like this.
    As friends put it, “Nobody complained before. So why are you? Classy.” and “We expect the disableds to accept whatever “solution” we offer. We offer them an excellent Hobson’s choice.
  4. We repeatedly told the engineers not to remove the seats. The engineers removed them anyway.
    The police and staff agreed with my suggestion that I use the wheelchair lift to reach the interior doorway and transfer directly onto the nearest seat. The engineers then arrived and started removing the seat I needed to transfer into. We told them not to do so multiple times, in both English and Italian. We also told the other train staff, who relayed to the engineers in Italian. The engineers ignored us and continued removing the seats against our instructions. This is demonstrated incontrovertibly in my video.
    They then indicated that they intended to lift me out of my wheelchair, fold it, move it to the wheelchair space, and then lift me back into it. That idea is ridiculous and dangerous – for any disabled person and the staff. I’m not light!
    To frame this as me silently watching them remove the seat and making them reinstall it because I chose not to sit in my wheelchair is an absurd and demonstrable lie. I would much rather sit in my wheelchair (and have access to the toilet, etc.) but it simply wasn’t possible.
  5. Their accusation that my carer was filming them is unjustified and an inaccurate slur. He was not.
    The reason the police couldn’t find the videos on his phone is because he didn’t video it. The fact that they accused him of videoing them and got the police to search his phone is an unjust intrusion into his dignity and privacy.

Why wasn’t there a wheelchair space?

Rhaetian Railway also sent me internal correspondence generated by my complaint. Here’s my English translation of relevant bits.

Customer Services:
We have received the following feedback on a passenger’s journey on 25.6.2024 on train 974.
We would be grateful if you could give your point of view to clarify the situation.
The passenger also said that the interior door was too narrow to get through. Is this correct?

Engineering:
On 25th June, the train formation of 974 was as follows:
(diagram)
On that day, two inaccessible carriages were lined up for the train, and no accessible one. Accordingly, the carriages were not compliant with the Swiss Disability Discrimination Act.

Customer Services:
May I ask why there was no accessible carriage on the train, even though there was a wheelchair reservation?

Engineering:
The accessible carriage was in the workshop in Landquart at the time.

The lack of access is treated so trivially.

Landquart is 150km / 4 hours away by train. One wonders how long the accessible carriage had been out of use – and why Rhaetian Railway didn’t think to contact me and warn me.
A photograph of the Bernina Express train. Photo is overlayed with a crossed-out wheelchair symbol, the Rhaetian Railway logo and the word "Ableist".

Ableist DARVO

As my companion Mike put it,

They have no idea of equality and managing these situations. Plus they have misrepresented the entire situation (probably to suit there own views).

Rhaetian Railway staff find lying, blaming, and ridiculing the victim easier than admitting the truth about my complaint.

They have compounded the distress they caused by their ableist actions on the day by lying about, gaslighting and defaming me in their internal report.

Shame on them.

Rhaetian Railways should:

  • ensure there’s an accessible carriage on every train (lack of one should result in the whole train being cancelled)
  • warn disabled passengers of any failure in accessibility facilities in advance of their journey
  • have contingency plans in place for accessibility failure
  • treat railway-caused accessibility failure with the same seriousness and priority  as they would a significant safety incident
  • not expect disabled people to meekly accept accessibility failures
  • discipline its staff for failing to warn me when my booked assistance wasn’t available
  • discipline its staff for lying about and defaming me in their internal report
  • compensate me accordingly.

Cultural issue

Non-disabled people can book their accommodation in seconds interactively online and have a relative certainty that their booking will be honoured. Rhaetian Railways don’t afford wheelchair users the same treatment.

Their failure to do so was exacerbated by their shock at my strong objection and their lying and demeaning report,

Rhaetian Railway evidently has a significant cultural problem in its approach to disabled people.

It must address this.

HEARING CANCELLED – Disabled people in Court! – Tues 18th June 2024, Disabled People and the Government’s National Climate Adaptation Plan

HEARING CANCELLED

This hearing has been adjourned at short notice, to 23rd and 24th July.

I’m pretty devastated – and I’m sorry to others who made arrangements.

Doug – 17th June 2024

I’m one of three claimants taking the Government to court over its failure to produce a fit-for-purpose National Climate Adaptation PlanIf you can, please come and show support.

We all know that disabled people are amongst the first against the wall in any emergency, as shown during COVID-19. Climate change is an emergency. Huge climate change will inevitably impact disadvantaged and dispossessed people the most, such as disabled people. Climate change is killing and maiming disabled people all over the world.  This is an existential crisis for disabled people.

The United Nations has found that the UK Government are responsible for “grave and systematic violations’ of Disabled persons’ rights“. It seems that some people are just more expendable and less valuable than some others. This comes across loud and clear in the Government’s third National Climate Adaptation Plan, which isn’t fit for purpose.  I believe it will kill even more UK disabled people unless we hold the Government to account.

The case will be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in London on Tuesday, June 18th, and Wednesday, June 19th, 2024.

You are invited:

  • to a demo outside the Court on Tuesday 18th at 12:30pm,
  • to attend Court to support and observe, in person or over the Internet, for part or all of the hearings.

I have previously found that the presence of disabled people at court cases drives home to judges the importance of the issues.

Access details

Lawyers, Friends of the Earth and I have been lobbying the Court Service and the Royal Courts of Justice to attempt to ensure that they make attending the Hearing as accessible as possible. Previous experiences in other disabled peoples’ rights cases have not been good, but we hope that they will stick to their word and do better this time…

In person

  • The hearing will be held in Courtroom 73 in the East Block of the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) in the Strand, London, all day on Tuesday, June 18th, and Wednesday, June 19th, 2024. I currently don’t know the start time, but I should imagine it will be 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m.
  • The entrance for people who don’t do stairs is via the Bell Yard, down the street to the Right of the main entrance. This street isn’t great for accessibility; it has steep, narrow pavements and sets (cobbles). Here’s the Court Service’s Map of the Royal Courts of Justice.
  • You’ll have to go through Security. They have a list of what they won’t allow through, which includes wheelchair tools. They have been instructed in how to treat disabled people, our bodies, minds, aids and belongings, with respect. (Apparently.)
  • Courtroom 73 is on the 2nd floor. There are lifts, but the lifts are narrow and frankly inadequate for a significant number of disabled people, so there can be queueing.
  • The courtroom is their largest and can take a few wheelchair users. There will be a hearing loop, which they promise they will have installed and tested… There’s water for everybody, including for assistance dogs (who we are assured will be welcomed.)
  • There’s an overspill room, Courtroom 68 on the first floor. It will have a large screen, speakers, and a working hearing loop. Observers can choose whether to be in the main Courtroom (73) or the overspill Courtroom (68), depending on their preferences and the busyness of either.
  • The disabled and standard toilets are on the 1st and 3rd floors (so not on the same floor as the main courtroom). I have previously found them sort of adequate but not great, and getting to them can be difficult with large, heavy doors, but the RCJ has promised to have staff on hand to help with the doors, etc.
  • There’s an (unwelcoming) prayer and contemplation room on the 1st floor also.

Over the Internet

  1. You must register by 10am on Monday 17 June – the day before the hearing – in order to watch on the Internet.
  2. To register, follow this court order. In brief:
    • Email colin.genner3@justice.gov.uk
    • State you want to attend this hearing remotely: case AC-2023-LON-00307, Friends of the Earth and others -v- Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs
    • Give your name and email address, whether you’ll be watching from England and Wales or if not which country, and a short reason you want remote access – “I will have difficulty attending the RCJ” is fine.
    • The text “If permitted to attend the hearing remotely, I understand that I must not record or transmit what I see and hear. I understand that it is an offence and may be a contempt of court to do so, and that I may be punished if I were to do so.”
  3. (I personally object to this requirement to give ID: people can attend in person without giving these details or signing any promise not to record, so I don’t see why disabled people attending remotely should have to. But this requirement is set out in Section 85A(3)(b) of the Courts Act 2003.)
  4. They should then email you back with the link to watch the hearing. This will be via the Court Service’s (terrible, in my opinion) Cloud Video Platform.
  5. If possible, use Google Chrome; it is the most compatible. I recommend turning your microphone and camera off.

Disabled rail travellers’ handling during Storm Dudley vs Storm Eunice

Back in 2022, Dominic Lund-Conlon / Rail Delivery Group instructed the rail industry to stop / cancel all disabled people’s booked assistance during Storm Eunice. – for trains that continued to run, and including an entire country (Scotland) that was not disrupted by the southerly track of the storm.

Photo of Dominic Lund-Conlon; waitcoat and tie wearing slim white man with dark hair, in front of the London Eye.

(Nearly all train operating companies (TOCs) sensibly ignored him and his instruction, but he incorrectly told the Office of Rail Regulation that they were all cancelling assistance bookings anyway, presumably on the mistaken assumption that TOCs followed his order.)

The above was revealed through Freedom of Information Requests for emails sent via the shadowy rail accessibility e-list maintained by Rail Delivery Group.

Today, two years later, after fighting through the internal review and Scottish Information Commissioner process (for two years!) Scotrail has belatedly released some more emails from the same list. They revealed how train operating companies responded to assistance requests during the “Do Not Travel” instruction issued for Storm Dudley—a storm a few days before Storm Eunice.

Compare and contrast:

Storm Dudley correspondence, 16th February 2022

  • (Scotrail) “As a precaution, should we not have something on the Passenger Assist platforms warning people to only travel if “absolutely necessary” in response to storm Dudley!”
  • (Greater Anglia) “I think (Scotrail) raises a very good point here, how we are communicating severe disruption through PA and any network wide ‘do not travel notices’? Addressing the issue of agile timetable changes and notifications is going to become more pertinent with the reduced notification period for booking assistance.”
  • (RDG) “It’s a good question – how would you have done this previously, please, in other storms?”
  • (Scotrail) “In the passenger assist app, it should be possible to put information to alert customers of the storm and the timetable reduction planned for by 4 pm and almost no services from 1800hrs.
    Additionally, we used to be able to put alert information on the landing page for new bookings for advisors so that they are cautions on taking bookings that later on become difficult to deliver.”

Storm Eunice correspondence,  17th February 2022

  • (RDG) “This is a pre-alert – I’m shortly to be sending you some urgent information about the next 72 hours and the incoming storm. Please be advised that there will be some clear comms regarding do not travel advice for Friday within that email.
    In relation to this, there will likely be a need to contact customers who have requested assistance for travel on Friday.”
  • (GTR) “Appreciate urgent guidance on this so the advice we provide to our booked customers is consistent with industry ie whether we should refuse a booking if there is a general ‘Do not travel’ message in place?”
  • (RDG) “If “Do Not Travel” is in place, then you can’t offer journeys that you are actively telling all customers not to make.
    I will email the ORR to set out the situation if the group would like me to?”
  • (GTR) “Getting ORR confirmation asap would be much appreciated.”
  • (RDG to ORR) “At present, all train operators are undertaking proactive contact with customers who are booked to travel on Friday to rearrange their planned journeys. Alongside this, members will be not accepting any new booking requests from customers”

Consistency…

Given the discriminatory impact of any decision to cancel disabled people’s assistance requests, one would have hoped that the RDG would follow the procedure and practice set up for this purpose.

It turns out there was no such procedure, which I can only see as a lack of foresight and a failure in the responsibility of RDG, its Accessibility and Inclusion Manager (AIM) Dominic Lund-Conlon, and its train operating company members.

The result: RDG, through its puppet AIM, made up poorly thought out orders on the spot to cancel all disabled people’s assistance across the UK for trains that continued to run, including in areas unaffected by the storm, which was treated with the requisite contempt by nearly all train operating companies.

What a Dog’s dinner.

It is a disgrace that disabled people’s right to travel is at the whim of this clown organisation and its cock-sure yes-man.