Libel threat letter to me from Lund-Conlon

Dominic Lund-Conlon doesn’t like my previous blog about how he told all Train Operating Companies (TOCs) to cancel and refuse all disabled peoples’ assistance bookings during Hurricane Eunice. He has got the lawyers that Private Eye colloquially call “Carter Fuck to send me this legal letter purportedly alleging I defamed him.

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

His letter seems to boil down to these points.

  1. Rail Delivery Group (RDG)’s “Customer Information Group (“CIG”)made the decision to cancel and refuse assistance bookings, not our Dom.
  2. Dom “suggested emailing the ORR (Office of Rail and Road) “to set out the situation”.” “That course of action was approved.” “There was no suggestion that Dom would “ask” the ORR what ought to be done”
  3. My allegations unfairly undermine his excellent record in fighting for disableds.
  4. The ORR wrote to me to say that all was A-OK regarding the cancellations, but I published my blog post anyway.
  5. He is unhappy and thus he and/or his employers spent a lot of rail passengers’ / tax-payers money to get lawyers to have a moan at me (and not to actually threaten or ask me to do anything.)

I’m not going to bore you all by responding point-by-point, but I shall tackle these main issues head-on.

1. RDG’s “Customer Information Group (CIG)” decided to cancel and refuse bookings, not Dom

Dom’s lawyers helpfully explained the hierarchy at RDG.

The Customer Board sits above the Customer Information Strategy Group (“CISG”), which itself heads two sub-groups: the Customer Information Group (“CIG”), which deals with issues related to customer information, and the Accessibility & Inclusion Group (“A&IG”), which deals with issues regarding compliance with licence-linked accessibility requirements (including the provision of pre-booked assistance to passengers)“. (my emphasis)

A pretty clear split of responsibilities: Customer Info = CIG. Accessibility, including passenger assistanceAccessibility & Inclusion Group (AIG). Two separate groups with separate responsibilities.

According to Dom, the CIG made the decision to cancel and refuse all assistance bookings. Not the AIG. The CIG made the decision as part of much wider decisions at a (seemingly informal, unrecorded and unminuted) phone call meeting. Accountable it is not.

I’m prepared to believe that it is possible that this unaccountable group (whose existence, mandate, responsibilities and processes are not published nor transparent, but which as we have found specifically does NOT include responsibility for passenger assistance) somehow made the momentous decision to (tell Dom to) instruct all train operating companies (TOCs) to cancel and refuse all assistance bookings during Storm Eunice, even though trains were still running. Dom wasn’t there; neither, apparently, were any of the accessibility and inclusion managers (AIMs) at any of the TOCs or Network Rail. Interestingly, neither was anybody from Transport for Wales – “There was no meeting with RDG at which TfW Rail was in attendance where this decision was made” -so who was there to decide to cancel all assistance bookings across the industry? what was their remit? and what process were they following?

RDG then instructed Dominic to disseminate the CIG’s decision to all TOCs’ accessibility managers. When he did so, he didn’t say “all TOCs have agreed this in a CIG meeting“, he simply sent out orders (seemingly on his / RDG’s non-existent authority) and assumed that TOCs would follow them. He made no indication as to what decision he was implementing, or who made it.

2. Dom “suggested emailing the ORR “to set out the situation”.” “That course of action was approved.” “There was no suggestion that Dom would “ask” the ORR what ought to be done”

Let’s get the actual messages, should we? In time order, emphasis added:

  • GTR: “we would appreciate industry clarity whether we should/could cancel booked travel altogether over this period as to take a booking for a journey that we know is highly likely to be disrupted may set an unrealistic expectation. Conversely, refusing a booking, as we know goes against everything we would normally do, so this is uncharted territory. Appreciate urgent guidance on this
  • Dom: “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.
  • LNER:Yes please – obviously we kind of need a response in hours so hopefully they’ll understand the urgency.

It’s pretty clear to me that the two TOCs who responded to our Dom’s kind offer were asking for a confirmatory “OK” before going ahead. They didn’t approve Dom telling the ORR what the decision was; they wanted Dom to seek confirmation from the ORR that the proposed course of action was OK.

Dom didn’t seek any such thing. He didn’t say: “I’ve told TOC AIMs to cancel and refuse all assistance, they’ve asked me to seek ORR confirmation, can you oblige?“. He didn’t even say “the CIG has decided TOCs should cancel and refuse all bookings.” He simply told them: “all train operators are undertaking proactive contact with customers who are booked to travel on Friday to rearrange their planned journeys“, and “members will be not accepting any new booking requests from customers for Friday.

That quite simply wasn’t true, as we have established. I.e. Dom lied to the regulator, claiming that the industry was cancelling and refusing all assistance, whereas in fact, it seems only one TOC (out of 20) was actually doing so.

I stand by what I said in my original post: Dom “does NOT have the power to instruct RDG’s members to do anything, nor the right to lie to the ORR.

3. My allegations unfairly paint him in a negative light and undermine his excellent record in fighting for disableds.

That is not my opinion of him, nor is it the opinion of a significant number of other disabled people.

Some disabled people think Dom is a misogynist and a bully. I think he is a two-faced yes-man, touting his ableist industry and employer’s self-congratulatory back-slapping whilst failing to deliver disabled passenger’s rights (e.g. the supposedly-all-singing-all-dancing Passenger Assist app). In my opinion, he also engages in gaslighting and undermining other disabled passengers’ voices. I think that far from my blog post “striking at the heart of our client’s professional reputation”, it actually endorses much of the disabled community’s view of him, more like.

In any case, what I posted is fundamentally true. OK; the actual decision was made by an unaccountable RDG-hosted group acting outside of its remit; however he didn’t tell any AIMs how the decision was made, he simply ordered them to cancel and refuse bookings then lied to the ORR that they were already doing it. He didn’t ask for the ORR’s approval (i.e. he defied the clear wishes of those TOCs he represents.) So in my opinion he has undermined himself, in his usual inimical high-handed bullying style.

4. The ORR wrote to me to say that all was A-OK regarding the cancellations, but I published my blog post anyway.

The ORR’s letter was based upon Dom’s lie.

ORR: “On the 17th February the rail industry took the decision to proactively contact all passengers that had booked assistance on journeys due to take place on 18th and 19th February, in order to cancel and (where possible) rearrange these bookings. They also decided to stop taking any further bookings for assistance for this period. We were informed of this decision at noon on the 17th.

The rail industrydid no such thing. As we have established, the RDG’s Customer Information Group, which had no responsibility for accessibilty, unilaterally made this decision. Nearly all Train Operating Companies then ignored the order.

It is apparent that the ORR had taken Dom’s inaccurate claim at face value (as they should be able to!) and had written their response to me accordingly. Their conclusion was based on Dom’s inaccurate and untrue statement. It was reasonable for me to continue to publish my blog.

The ORR emailed me again a week later:

Thank you for your emails, and the further information that you’ve provided. We have also read your blog on this issue …. We’ll be involved in follow up discussions with industry to understand what can be learnt from this event. We’ll be looking at the decisions made, who made them, and who provided what information. We will work with industry to ensure that any relevant learning is incorporated where appropriate into policy and training.

I stand by my blog and would argue that the ORR’s response on the issue was irrelevant as they were working on wholly inaccurate information (provided by our Dom.)

5. He is unhappy and thus he and his employers spent a lot of rail passengers’ / tax-payers money to get lawyers to have a moan at me (and not to actually threaten or ask anything.)

Scene from Monty Python's "Life of Brian", in which Brian's mum shouts: "He's a very naughty boy" Now Go Away!"
Dom’s letter’s seeming intent

It really isn’t a good look. It would have been a much better look for our Dom and the RDG to apologise and explain what they’ve learnt from the experience. His OTT tantrum has simply brought more attention to him and his employer for failing disabled passengers during the storm and has affirmed my opinion (shared by many) that both he and RDG should JUST GO, as the self-important, bullying, non-delivering, ableist apologists and liabilities to disabled people they are.

(note to Dom: I know you’re reading – you could do with reading about the Streisand Effect.)

Dominic Lund-Conlon / RDG tried to stop all booked assistance during Storm Eunice, and lied to the ORR.

All train and station operating companies are required as part of their Accessible Travel Policies (i.e. as part of their operating license) to provide booked assistance to disabled travellers, and to accept bookings for said assistance to be provided.

This has been the case for at least 25 years to my recollection, probably longer. In all that time, there has never been any day on which any operator simply cancelled and refused to provide booked assistance, or any day for which any operator refused to carry out any bookings (except for e.g. Christmas Day, when there are no train services for any passengers, disabled or otherwise.)

That is, until 18th February 2022. On 17th February, Govia Thameslink Railways (GTR) decided to cancel all assistance bookings made for the 18th, and to refuse all new assistance bookings for services run that day, due to the “Do Not Travel” advisory (Storm Eunice).

(Note that word “advisory”. The industry was still running trains, selling tickets for those trains, and indeed people travelled on those trains, despite being advised not to travel. Despite this, GTR cancelled and refused all bookings for assistance that disabled people need in order to travel.)

My assistance booking request for a journey for that day was cancelled by GTR.

How was this decision made to cancel and refuse all bookings, one wonders?

Faz Hakim, GTR’s Head of Public Affairs, (whilst tweet-gaslighting a disabled passenger) claimed the “advice and guidance on providing assistance was agreed with other Train companies, the Rail Delivery Group and the Office of Rail and Road“. This is demonstrably untrue.

In reality, the decision wasn’t made at any meeting, with the involvement of any train or station operating companies, nor with the approval of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The decision was made solely by Rail Delivery Group, through its accessibility and inclusion manager Dominic Lund-Conlon (who tweets as @DaddyDoink.)

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

The lack of transparency and accountability in this decision is breathtakingly revealed in Northern’s Freedom of Information release. The decision was communicated in an email chain on a rail industry “accessibility” email group, including train operator accessibility leads and Rail Delivery Group. You can read the whole email chain. or here are the highlights.

On Thursday 17th lunctime, our Dom instructed operators to be prepared to contact customers to rearrange journeys.

GTR’s Customer Relations Operations Manager commendably asked legitimate and measured questions:

Given the strength of the ‘Do not travel’ message, we would appreciate industry clarity whether we should/could cancel booked travel altogether over this period as to take a booking for a journey that we know is highly likely to be disrupted may set an unrealistic expectation.
Conversely, refusing a booking, as we know goes against everything we would normally do, so this is uncharted territory.
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?

To which our Dom responded at 12:37, saying simply,

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 required confirmation:

Getting ORR confirmation asap would be much appreciated.

as did LNER:

Yes please
– obviously we kind of need a response in hours so hopefully they’ll understand the urgency.

However, instead of asking the ORR if it was OK to cancel and refuse bookings, Dominic simply informed them what he incorrectly claimed operators were already doing. Dominic emailed the following lie to the ORR:

I would like to update you on the current work underway in relation to passenger assist bookings for Friday 18 February and the “Do Not Travel” notice issued today.
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 for Friday

The ORR thanked our Dom for his update.

That was the extent of the decision-making process for the (ostensible) decision to cancel and refuse the entire nation’s assistance bookings for a 24-hour period. It simply consisted of Rail Delivery Group (likely Dominic alone!) making the decision, Dominic himself instructing operators to cancel and refuse bookings, and Dominic lying to the ORR that all operators were already doing so.

Happily, most operators did not cancel or refuse bookings for assistance, despite Dom instructing them to do so and despite his claim to the ORR that all operators were.

  • Network Rail said: “all of our managed stations who deliver passenger assistance continued to deliver both booked and unbooked passenger assistance during Storm Eunice. We did not cancel or refuse any assistance bookings or requests and all normal processes were followed.
  • Northern: “On 17th February 2022 Northern cancelled some services in anticipation of the disruption Storm Eunice would cause. Northern then attempted to make contact with customers who had booked passenger assistance on the services that were cancelled and helped them make alterative arrangements. Northern did not cancel the bookings of services scheduled to run and provided alternative transportation when there was further disruption on the day.
    Northern did not refuse to take new bookings. Northern advised customers of the Do Not Travel advisory, but if a service was scheduled to run Northern accepted the booking for passenger assistance if that was what the customer wanted to do.
  • SouthEastern: got staff to contact customers with booked assistance to warn of likely disruption and offer to rearrange their journey. “Of the people we spoke to, three confirmed they would still need to travel. We maintained these bookings but on the advice not to travel because we were expecting disruption to services and some lines of route may have to close. As per our message to all customers, this included that alternative transport could not be provided should a line have to close.” – though “we didn’t take new pre-bookings for Assisted Travel journeys on 18 February.
  • LNER: We followed a BAU (Business As Usual) process of contacting all customers with booked assistance as a welfare check and to offer to re-arrange. Passenger assistance bookings were cancelled where a customer informed us that they were no longer travelling and we made amendments where necessary to coordinate with services that were able to run. We would have accepted any further assistance bookings”. On Lund-Conlon’s email to the ORR saying that TOCs were cancelling and refusing assistance bookings: “Please note, LNER did not endorse this response, and neither is it the course of action that LNER took“.
  • ScotrailScotRail did not follow the advice given by RDG and continued operating services as normal. The decision was taken based on the information available that suggested that Storm Eunice was unlikely to affect much of Scotland. Passenger Assistance was provided as normal for ScotRail passenger.”
  • GWR informed me that they did not cancel or refuse any assistance bookings. They contacted customers with booked assistance to advise of the potential issues, but maintained the booking where this was the customer’s preference.
  • Transport for Wales: cancelled all their trains during Storm Eunice, so consequently cancelled relevant assistance (as nobody could travel on their services, disabled or not.)

Rail Delivery Group‘s legal name is the “Association of Train Operating Companies“. They are not a public body, so they aren’t subject to the ORR (the regulator), to the Public Sector Equality Duty or to transparency such as the Freedom of Information Act. Their role is nebulous and poorly-defined; as the Williams Rail Review noted. But it is clear that they are NOT there to make unilateral decisions and inflict them on their own members (the train operating companies and Network Rail.)

As for Dominic Lund-Conlon: that he (thinks he) has the power to unilaterally decide to cancel and refuse all assistance bookings across the nation for 24 hours is astounding, and totally outside his somewhat lowly role. He does NOT have the power to instruct RDG’s members to do anything, nor the right to lie to the ORR about what RDG’s members are actually doing. (Who does he think he is; the God of rail access?)

It is widely thought that RDG, and particularly Dominic Lund-Conlon, are active impediments to access for disabled people to rail transport. Neither represent disabled passengers, or even their operating company members; and it is time that both went.

And my train? It ran, reasonably to time and with no problems. Without me on it, of course.


Update Sunday 20th March 2022:

I have written to the Transport Select Committee, and to Wendy Morton (Rail Minister and Disability Champion) about this.

We can’t allow it to go unchallenged. Or repeated.


Update Monday 21 March 2022

I have updated this article with responses from LNER and GWR.

Update Friday 22nd April 2022

I have updated this article with responses from Scotrail and TfW.

TransReport, booking wheelchair spaces and SWR’s Booking From Hell

Disabled people aren’t able to book train wheelchair spaces directly; we have to get A Rail Employee Human to do it. Doing so is ridiculously difficult.

Non-disabled people can book their seats on trains considerably more easily. But wheelchair users have to book the space as part of an Assistance Booking, for ramp provision and so on; and that ISN’T easy.

Traditionally, disabled people have had to make such bookings either by phoning up (which isn’t great for people with e.g. hearing impairment) OR by filling in a web form and waiting (which isn’t great because it isn’t interactive i.e. one has to wait and see if the wheelchair space has been booked; also because requests made via these forms routinely go AWOL.)

TransReport app

So enter TransReport. This small startup set up a partnership with Rail Delivery Group (RDG) and started developing an app that was supposed to Sort All Our Assistance Problems Out In One Fell Swoop.
The app was to include revolutionary features, as advertised in this Sociable post:

“With the push of a button, rail staff can get to you quickly and easily – just wait for assistance to come to you,” says Founder Jay Shen

The staff member can even message the passenger and vice versa, so the staff member has a name too.

Since the staff and passenger can message each other, time can be addressed when schedules change or a mistake is made and Plan B is needed.

Through GPS tracking down to the metre, staff and passengers can be located easily.

Coming to all UK rail and train stations by June 2018.

Delay

Needless to say, as with everything RDG do (cf. the “Universal Ramp“, Station Information and rail replacement accessibility) the app was delayed by years, stunted in functionality and fundamentally broken.

June 2018 came and went with no sign of the app. So did June 2019, and then June 2020.

In Autumn 2020, TransReport took over the back-end database of assistance bookings. This database contains the approximately 1.25 million (pre-pandemic) assistance bookings made on the UK rail network each year. It has a user interface that allows staff at train operating companies’ call centres to check station accessibility, book wheelchair spaces and seats etc. and make assistance bookings. This information then (theoretically) gets transmitted to rail staff on trains and stations to provide the booked assistance.

After raising £2.3 million in venture capitalist funding for their app, TransReport finally launched their app on 25th May 2021 – nearly 3 years late.

Stunted and broken features

This much-delayed app doesn’t have many of the promised revolutionary features.

  • No facility to allow staff and passengers to contact each other
  • No facility to know assistance staff names or what they look like
  • No facility for communicating changes when disruption or mistakes occur
  • No GPS tracking of the passenger.

There’s also no facility for booking a ticket; a fairly fundamental failure, in my opinion.

It doesn’t allow interactive booking of the wheelchair space; in fact, it makes no mention of booking wheelchair spaces at all.

Its sole benefit seems to be that it is (supposedly) a one-stop place to book passenger assistance, without having to work out whom to contact, with a comparatively accessible interface (thanks to the input of some excellent disabled rights activists) and with the passenger’s assistance needs and biographical details pre-filled in without having to redo them for each booking. This is a benefit, but nothing like that promised all those years ago, and sadly those benefits are offset by some significant problems.

Wheelchair space booking functionality broken

TransReport and RDG have really dropped the ball on this one, and stuffed wheelchair users up royally. What’s more, they won’t admit this fault and haven’t sorted it since they have been aware…

Since TransReport took over the database and backend last Autumn, I have experienced repeated and significant problems booking wheelchair spaces. Time and again I have attempted to book such spaces on LNER, particularly in 1st Class, only to be faced by “computer says no“. Over the phone (via Text Relay), web chat or email, LNER or Northern say: “sorry, the computer said that the wheelchair space was available but on attempting to book it, in actual fact, it seems the space has already been booked by somebody.

After the first few times I was told this, I began to smell a rat. Were both First Class wheelchair spaces on each of four consecutive trains between York and Newcastle really booked up, three months in advance, during a pandemic?! Following much pressure and investigation, Northern and LNER eventually found out that the wheelchair spaces were NOT reserved. Wheelchair spaces simply weren’t reservable, because of TransReport’s software glitch. On actually travelling, I confirmed that the spaces had NOT been reserved by others and were indeed available to me

Each time that I attempt to book a wheelchair space, I experience the same problem. Multiple months after the first time it happened, it is still an issue. Eventually, LNER and Northern conducted investigations.

TransReport’s user interface was and is illegitimately refusing wheelchair space bookings, whilst other, older systems still allow them. So TransReport’s systems will tell train operating company employees that the wheelchair space isn’t available, and refuse to book it – then the older “Journey Planner” and “Portal” systems still allow rail employees to book the same space on the same train. Yet rail staff are instructed they must use the new TransReport system; and anyway many don’t have access to the older systems, or even know that this glitch exists.

To me, this is a pretty big failure. A system specifically designed to facilitate disabled people’s travel, in mandatory use across the country (inflicted on disabled people and on train operating companies whether we want it or not), has some fundamental bug preventing the booking of train wheelchair spaces – whereas the older systems still allow such.

I think what’s worse is that nobody at TransReport or RDG noticed this bug. Not during alpha or beta testing, in user and staff trials, and not in six months of operation. Their system was merrily refusing wheelchair users access to unoccupied wheelchair spaces for several months – and nobody noticed.

Only when LNER and Northern investigated the failure (at my prompting) was the issue brought to light. In the first week of June, RDG was shown that the system wouldn’t allow wheelchair space bookings whereas the older systems would. Yet:

  • TransReport and RDG refused to acknowledge the bug
  • the bug is still present three weeks later and is still preventing wheelchair space bookings

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions as to what this says about the competence of the two organisations and the priority they place on wheelchair users’ right to travel.

Other bugs and problems

The app doesn’t make clear anyway that it can be used to request a wheelchair space booking. The options listed – “Use of ramp, Room for Assistance Dog, Seat Transfer, Use of Station Buggy / Wheelchair, Help Pushing Wheelchair or Help with Luggage” – don’t include “Book Wheelchair Space“. There’s no mention in the app at all about booking the space, nor does their website say how to request one, despite my multiple suggestions to TransReport that they include such.

They’ve subsequently had to tweet to inform people:

Other problems include:

  • if Train Operating Companies don’t mark a disabled person’s journey as “Completed” (which they never do) then the journey hangs around forever in the “Current Journeys” bit of the app.
  • the app and backend quite happily allows nonsensical bookings. For example, they allow booking assistance on and off the Underground (which can’t actually be booked), booking train ramps to be provided to board rail replacement coaches, or wheelchair spaces and ramps to be booked for stations that are only accessible by several flights of stairs
  • the back-end generates a multitude of confusing “unconfirmed,” “confirmed” and “alteredemail confirmations to passengers
  • the app makes no warning when passengers make booking requests at impossible short notice, e.g. for a train in 5 minutes – which can never be actioned because:
  • a rail employee has to confirm each assistance and/or wheelchair space booking request. This often doesn’t happen. When it does, it also means that all the old problems with booking failures are still very much in evidence.

So the app and its backend isn’t the massive step forward we were all promised. It is a much-delayed, massive disappointment, with limited new functionality and with new bugs that prevent many disabled people from travelling.

South Western Railway cluster****

Next month I intend on seeing friends in Farnham. So today I attempted to book the journey back home via the app. I made the booking request at 16:27, and included the following seemingly helpful comments:

Wheelchair space. 1st Class where available.

NB: first class wheelchair space may not be available between Leeds and Harrogate either direction – short platform at Harrogate. If so, please book the standard class wheelchair space Leeds to/from Harrogate and the first class wheelchair space Harrogate to/from King’s Cross, with transfer between at Leeds.

Transreport has difficulties with booking wheelchair spaces, you may need to use Journey Planner / Portal.

I can manage steep ramps at Farnham.

My booking request was reviewed by somebody at South Western Rail, who confirmed my booking at 17:25. This generated a booking confirmation email to me. Said confirmation made clear that no wheelchair space booking had actually been made, despite my request.

My note above was copied verbatim into the booking multiple times. The agent had also booked me assistance onto/off London Underground, with train ramps and with the same note requesting wheelchair space booking…

The booking was clearly full of errors and not valid. So I sighed, girded my loins and phoned up SWR Assisted Travel via TextRelay (for deaf people.)

The call lasted over an hour, and I still don’t have a usable booking.

Here’s the transcript of the call. It’s long, infuriating but sort of cruelly entertaining. (I’ve removed my date of intended travel and a couple of pieces of identifying info.)

SWR Call Transcript

Relay UK. Ring Ring.

Relay UK Answered, please wait for connection.

Sorry for any delay. Connecting you as soon as we can.

Sorry for any delay. Connecting you as soon as we can.

Connected to Relay UK, pls wait…

Ringing…

Recorded Message

Thank you for calling SW Railway assisted travel service…

Note from relay assistant: Too fast.

Good evening. You are through to Linda. How may I help you?

Good evening. I booked assistance this evening by the Passenger Assist app, but the confirmation that has come through doesn’t show the wheelchair spaces as booked as requested. Please could you check and book the wheelchair spaces if needed? PA-XXXXXXXX Thank you.

And the name it has been booked under, please?

Doug Paulley.

And the postcode, please?

XXXX XXX.

And what date are you due to travel?

XXXday XX July.

…and what station are you travelling from and to?

I am travelling from Farnham to Harrogate. Have you found my booking?

Not yet no…

Booking reference PA-XXXXXXXX.

Yep, that’s exactly how you gave it last time… Unfortunately, I can’t find your booking. I am looking again, still searching. Can’t find nothing at all.

OK. I have the booking confirmation in front of me and it is confirmed on the passenger Assist app.

Yeah, I have just found the booking… One moment… OK, so it does say in the assistance ‘wheelchair space. First-class where available’ and then ‘first class may not always be available’.

I know. I typed that. That is my request to the assistance booking people. So, did they book the wheelchair space? Because I can’t see any indication on the booking confirmation that they have. If so, which coaches please?

Please hold the line while I get my team leader. One moment, please.

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Hello, sorry about that. So, the actual booking hasn’t actually been booked. It is ready to be booked but the actual assistance hasn’t been booked yet. It is on the system waiting. An agent hasn’t actually booked it yet.

They have booked it. It has gone from Unconfirmed to Confirmed after an SWR agent manually checked it and confirmed it. So, it has been processed.

Sorry, you’ll have to hold again. Thank you.

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

…..

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

…. Hello. Sorry to have kept you waiting so long. OK… So, we can’t book a wheelchair space on the first leg of the journey but the staff will try to get you a space, and there’s not usually a problem… They will do that… That’s Farnham to Waterloo… But then from London King’s Cross to Harrogate, you will be in Coach A 01 and that’s a standard class wheelchair space.

I requested the first-class wheelchair space. Please book it.

Unfortunately, there isn’t availability to book a first-class wheelchair space, so it is impossible for me to book it when it isn’t available.

It is available to book between Kings Cross and Leeds, as I made clear in my booking request. Please book the first-class wheelchair space between Kings Cross and Leeds, then transfer me to the standard class wheelchair space between Leeds and Harrogate, as originally requested.

Also, why did you claim that the booking hadn’t been confirmed, when it had? Why did SWR not tell me they had booked a wheelchair space? Why was my booking amended at 2200, was it someone on your end adding the wheelchair space because SWR originally hadn’t?

I was trying to find the booking so obviously had to make an amendment. If you wish to make a complaint you may do so by emailing customerrelations@swrailway.com.

The amendment was made after you found the booking, whilst I was on hold, which makes sense because there is no need to amend a booking to find a booking. This will go to legal afterwards, the incompetence at SWR assisted travel today has been ludicrous. Now. As I requested from the start, please book the 1st Class wheelchair space between Kings Cross and Leeds, that’s in Coach M, then transfer me to the standard class wheelchair space at Leeds for the final leg to Harrogate.

It will go to legal? Please hold the line.

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Hello. Sorry to keep you waiting, I apologise, Mr Paulley… Obviously, this needs to be looked in further for you, and there is not enough time left this evening to look into this correctly for you, so it will be rebooked completely for you tomorrow. Where we will make sure the agent investigates what spaces are available on what part of the journey.

“To make an Assisted Travel booking, contact our Assisted Travel team 24 hours a day, every day except 25 and 26 December”. You are here all night. Go ahead and sort my booking, please.

I am not here all night.

Well, your colleagues are, sort it out, please. I am not leaving the phone until I have a valid booking.

Are you prepared to wait an hour?

An hour? Why an hour? Get on with it now, please. If necessary cancel the whole thing and start again.

You have gone quiet?

Note from relay assistant: I am waiting for her response. We are still connected.

Thank you.

Note from relay assistant: there is no response. Only silence. But we are still connected.

Is there background noise, i.e. are we still attached to a telephone, or is the line completely silent?

Note from relay assistant: the line is completely silent. But we may be just muted.

OK, thank you. Please say: “this call has already lasted longer than it should have done. Your accessible travel plan makes clear that you can book wheelchair spaces on other TOC services, and you say you are open 24/7. Please make this booking.”.

Hello. Sorry to keep you waiting. I will transfer you to somebody who is here longer and will be able to book it for you. Please hold…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Hello. I am sorry that the booking contains errors. What I will do now is set up a case now and pass it onto management, and ask them to investigate thoroughly what happened. I understand that you want to change this booking now. Could you please confirm the journey details and I will be able to arrange it for you?

The journey hasn’t changed. It is on XXXday XX July, leaving Farnham 1328 and arriving Harrogate 1831.

I need ramps at all points, also I need the wheelchair space booking on the LNER portion. 1st Class wheelchair space.

There is an issue at Harrogate that the platform is too short for the train and the 1st Class wheelchair space trails off the end of the platform. As a result, it is only possible to book the 1st Class wheelchair space as far as Leeds. So please book the 1st Class wheelchair space from London to Leeds, then transfer me to the standard class wheelchair space on the same train at Leeds for the final portion to Harrogate. Ramps required at all points.

Right, OK. Please bear with me one moment while I get all of this booked in – then I will come back to you.

OK, thank you. The 1st Class wheelchair space is in Coach M on the LNER, if that helps. Will hold.

OK, perfect…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Are you aware that we cannot book assistance on the underground from London Waterloo to King’s Cross? So, you will have to make yourself known to a TFL member of staff?

Thank you; yes. What makes it interesting is that in the booking confirmation from SWR earlier this evening they did book assistance on London Underground, which is interesting as I know it is impossible! Thank you.

My apologies for this. As mentioned we will set up a case and investigate. You were advised incorrectly.

Thank you, yes.

Thank you…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Hello. I am back. Thank you so much for holding there… OK, I am just running through everything with the booking to make sure it is correct. So just to confirm, this booking is for XX July, leaving Farnham at 1358, going to Harrogate via Leeds arriving into Harrogate for 1903.

No, it is leaving Farnham at 1328 and arriving in Harrogate at 1831.

OK… I apologise, please bear with me two moments while I amend this.

OK.

Right…due to the short platform at Harrogate you will receive two separate bookings; one for Farnham to Leeds and the second will be Leeds to Harrogate. Are you OK with that?

Yes, thank you.

I am just actioning this now.

OK.

Thank you so much…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Right, apologies. Sorry to inform you, however the first-class wheelchair space on that service has already been booked. Are you happy to travel in the standard wheelchair space from – up to Harrogate?

There are two first-class wheelchair spaces and they aren’t booked; they just appear to be booked because Transreport’s Passenger Assist has a bug in it.

The wheelchair space appears available until you attempt to book it, at which point the system throws an error and claims the space is booked after all.

This is a known bug with Transreport’s Passenger Assist, which the wheelchair space has to be booked via alternative means, meaning Journey Planner or Portal.

Please book the space.

OK, I will do that now…

Holding…

Holding…

I will have to keep you on hold a little longer while I chat to my team. Is that ok?

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Hello, sorry to keep you on hold for so long. We are still currently unable to book the first-class wheelchair space. However, we can arrange to call you back in the morning when we have completed it… Or is there a preferred contact method? I will make an amendment to the booking so you will get email confirmation of that.

Thank you, I don’t do phone calls in general, and incoming calls, in particular, / call centre calls in particular, due to hearing loss. The best way to get me is to email me on xxxx.paulley@kingqueen.org.uk.

Yes, I have that one… So, to confirm… Are you happy for me to book the assistance without the first-class wheelchair space for now – and then email you in the morning when it has been updated?

Yes, thank you.

Perfect – I’ll get everything booked in now and then will get back to you with two reference numbers…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

Holding…

OK, I have two reference numbers here… Your journey from Farnham to Leeds is booked under reference PA-XXXXXXXX and your journey from Leeds to Harrogate is booked under reference PA-XXXXXXXX, and your seat from Leeds to Harrogate is coach A, seat A02.

OK, thank you for your help. Good evening now.

My apologies once again for any frustration caused. As per our conversation, I will email you in the morning to confirm that first-class wheelchair space has been booked.

OK, thank you. Goodnight now.

Goodnight.

TL;DR

South Western Railway:

  • couldn’t find my assistance booking
  • thought that the text I had typed requesting the wheelchair space booking, was actually text written by the person confirming the booking
  • put me on hold multiple times, for a total of about 45 minutes
  • claimed my assistance booking hadn’t been made and was still awaiting staff confirmation, when in fact it had been made and confirmed
  • hadn’t made any wheelchair space bookings as requested
  • then booked me standard class when I had requested first
  • claimed that them searching for my booking would have resulted in me receiving a “Booking Alteration” email
  • suddenly and markedly changed their tone when I said I would go to legal
  • claimed there wasn’t enough time left in the evening to sort my assistance booking (their service advertises itself as open 24/7 363 days a year…)
  • then asked me to wait a further hour on hold
  • gave me the silent treatment
  • had requested assistance on London Underground that cannot actually be provided
  • booked me the wrong trains at the wrong times despite me having given the details in the original booking request and again on the phone
  • told me that the 1st Class wheelchair spaces were unavailable when this is in fact due to TransReport’s glitch
  • were unable to overcome the glitch and actually make the booking, at the end of it all – and had to promise to contact me again tomorrow.

All that extra stress…

…to attempt to do what a non-disabled person can do in seconds on their website: make the bookings and practical arrangements to secure their accommodation and travel. It’s quite simply not on, is it?

The above is one small example of the myriad of issues disabled people including me experience when we try and travel: the assistance/wheelchair space booking process is fundamentally broken, causing immense stress, and wasting a huge amount of disabled people’s time and energy, for something that non-disabled people take for granted and which takes seconds.

Legal

The above is obviously morally reprehensible, but it also shouldn’t be like this under the industry’s regulatory and legal obligations.

This booking experience is directly contrary to the Office of Rail and Road’s regulations, and the Department for Transport franchising / Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements.

It’s also illegal under the Equality Act. TransReport, Rail Delivery Group and South Western Railway are service providers under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to practices that make it unreasonably difficult for wheelchair users and other disabled people to access their services, i.e. to travel. They’re also under a duty to provide effective auxiliary services if needed by disabled people.

The (apposite!) precedent in Roads v Central Trains Limited [2004] EWCA Civ 1541, (2004) 104 ConLR 62 states:

the policy of the Act is not a minimalist policy of simply ensuring that some access is available to the disabled: it is, so far as reasonably practicable, to approximate the access enjoyed by disabled persons to that enjoyed by the rest of the public.

Non-disabled people can book their tickets, practical arrangements and seats in seconds, reliably, without difficulty and automatedly, via a number of channels and without requiring human intervention. RDG, TransReport and South Western Rail could make the same possible for disabled people. Why don’t they?

Their failure to do so has caused me significant detriment – wasted my time, made me very angry and I STILL haven’t got the arrangements booked.

Actions required

So, TransReport, Rail Delivery Group and South Western Rail: this blog post constitutes a Letter before Action within the meaning of Section 6 of the Practice Direction: Pre-action Conduct and Protocols.

Unless you comply with my reasonable requirements as specified below within 14 days of this blog post being published, I shall take you to Court with no further notice.

Said requirements consitute:

    1. An open admission that you have discriminated against disabled people through your failure to make your wheelchair space and assistance booking processes easy and reliable.
    2. Legally binding undertakings to remedy these problems, within a specified, prompt timescale. Such undertakings to include:
      • To sort the bug that is preventing rail assistance booking staff from making some wheelchair space reservations via TransReport’s user interface.
      • To implement a system enabling wheelchair users to book available train wheelchair spaces interactively and without requiring rail staff intervention.
      • To sort the multiple other bugs and limitations with the TransReport app and back-end
    3. Compensation commensurate with the precedent set in Vento, as amended.

Addendum

My criticisms of the TransReport app and booking process above are in no way intended as a criticism of the many excellent disabled people who (like me) provided their input and expertise in an attempt to make it as accessible and useful as possible for disabled people. The failures are squarely in Rail Delivery Group’s and TransReport’s lane. I know that the app is a sight more accessible and usable than it would have been without disabled people’s input – and would be even more so if Rail Delivery Group had actually listened.

As the booking is processed further, I shall either add the ongoing situation below or in the blog’s comments.

Addendum next day

A flurry of automated emails from SWR, TransReport and LNER; amongst which:

Your seat reservation in first class from London Kings Cross to Leeds is M:20 has been booked via LNER and the reference that relates to your seat only is; VDXXXXXX, then your journey from Leeds to Harrogate is booking reference PA-XXXXXXXX and, your seat number A02 in standard class and again, your booking reference for the seat only is RTXXXXXX.

(What they mean is, the WHEELCHAIR SPACES have been booked; not seats. Good job I know that isn’t it! Once again, something that could puzzle and concern wheelchair users.)

I feel like I’ve won the blooming lottery! Finally what looks like the actual assistance booking I had requested – it only took an hour on the phone, determinedly knowing the system better than the employees I was speaking to and doggedly refusing to accept anything other than the correct booking. For something that non-disabled people can do in seconds with no stress or arcane knowledge required.

My outward journey is still “Unconfirmed”, however – LNER haven’t processed my booking request sigh.

Screenshot of Passenger Assist app, showing an Unconfirmed journey from Leeds to Farnham.

It has gone over 24 hours without being confirmed, so I used LNER’s Live Chat to get the booking confirmed. This took 10 minutes. Here’s the transcript.

LNER Chat Transcript

Hi and welcome to LNER Chat. My name is Athena and I am a digital assistant.

How can I help you today? Please use the quick buttons below or type your question and I will try to assist you.

Speak to a human

Our live chat opening times are Mon-Sunday, 8am-10pm.

When our agents are live, please allow 2-3 minutes for an agent to join the chat.

You can check out more info here: https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/travelling-now/travel-alerts/ Live Travel Info and https://www.lner.co.uk/faq/ FAQ.

Good Evening! You are chatting with Martin today. How may I help?

Hi. I used the Passenger Assist app yesterday to book assistance for a journey, but the assistance still hasn’t been reviewed by LNER and confirmed. Please can you do so? PA-XXXXXXXX

May I take your Full Name and Email, please?

Thank you; Doug Paulley, XXXX.paulley@kingqueen.org.uk.

Please bear with me, and I will look into this for you.

OK.

Hi Doug, so that should be confirmed now for you. My colleague who was booking the assistance has had to book E19, E18 for you.

Thank you.

I was expecting it to be confirmed before now; it’s been over 24 hours. It slipped the net?

We were just making sure that everything was correct for you.

…OK.

tl;dr

LNER said that they hadn’t confirmed my assistance and wheelchair space booking, 28 hours after I made it via the app, because “We were just making sure that everything was correct for you.

I don’t believe this, frankly. They are required to accept assistance bookings with 6 hours notice; why would they leave it 28 hours? If, however, it really is the case that they intentionally left it until I contacted them before they confirmed the booking, then it is a blooming good job that the wheelchair space I needed wasn’t reserved by somebody else in the meantime. Also, how was I to know that I had to get in contact in order for it to be confirmed? and why should I have to? It doesn’t make sense.

It also sounds like they had the usual TransReport Passenger Assist wheelchair space booking glitch: “My colleague who was booking the assistance has had to book E19, E18 for you.

Booking completed

Finally, 28 hours after I requested the assistance via the app, after speaking to SWR for over an hour and LNER for a further 10 minutes, after chasing two train operating companies because they failed to follow the procedures and thus stuffed up the assistance booking, and after I explained to staff how to achieve the actual bookings because their systems are fundamentally broken, I finally have valid assistance and wheelchair space booking for both the outward and return portions.

All to achieve something that non-disabled people can do in seconds and with minimal / no stress.

I feel like I’ve won the blooming lottery.

And the next day…

An email from LNER:

We’re just letting you know that we’ve got everything sorted for your next journey. I have booked you onto the earlier service of 10:05 on XX July, between Leeds and Kings Cross as, regrettably, the First Class wheelchair space wasn’t available on the 10:45 service.

I obviously spoke too soon: having thought that the booking was finally sorted, somebody has booked duplicate assistance and wheelchair space on an earlier train. In addition to the existing correct booking already made.

Goodness knows where this duplicate came from. He evidently didn’t check whether the booking had already been actioned; also evidently got the TransReport first class wheelchair space booking bug, didn’t realise that all the wheelchair spaces on my intended train are in first class; and didn’t bother booking the rest of my journey to Farnham.

What a mess. For Goodness’ sake. Now I have to cancel this duplicate booking, which I never asked for in the first place.