Real-life journeys using the Passenger Assistance app
Ever since the Passenger Assistance app was released, we’ve loved seeing all of the real-life journeys that have been taken using the app and how it has helped many disabled people find comfort in both travelling alone and travelling by rail. From football matches to travelling to work, check out how you’ve been using the app!
Meet Alice Ella, also known as ‘@itsaliceella‘ on Instagram. Before the Passenger Assistance app, as a wheelchair user, Alice found it really difficult to travel alone making her feel like her sense of independence was taken away. She felt like she always had to have her boyfriend travel with her to carry her bags and push her wheelchair. However, the app has now changed the game for her as she can ensure beforehand that she’ll be met at the station and helped with her luggage, have her chair pushed and get her onto the train for a safe and stress-free journey.
Alice shows us how she uses the app
This is Georgina Awasdell, ‘@georginaawasdell‘, she recently went to visit her long-distance best friend all with the help of the Passenger Assistance app.
Georgina travelling to see her best friend
Here’s Clara Holmes, also known as ‘@rollinfunky‘ on Instagram, using the Passenger Assistance app to help her travel around by rail. Clara was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) a form of Hypermobility Syndrome (HMS) meaning she has been a full-time wheelchair user for about 14 years. The Passenger Assistance app has taken away some stress from her travels and given her more independence.
Clara taking a day trip
Meet Emma, ‘@Simplyemmablog‘ on Instagram. With the help of the Passenger Assistance app, Emma took her first train journey in two years! With just a few clicks, she entered all her requirements into the app meaning that once she arrived at the station, staff already knew what she needed. The app has allowed Emma to feel spontaneous as she doesn’t have to plan her journeys too far in advance. If you need some inspiration on where to take your next trip, check out our ‘Wheelchair-friendly walks in Derbyshire‘ blog post.
Emma taking a spontaneous trip
Here we have Charlie, also known as ‘@n_q_p_c‘ on Instagram, a young wheelchair user with Cerebral Palsy. Charlie is a huge advocate of the Passenger Assistance app, sharing that he believes it makes getting the train for disabled people so much easier. He’s shared so many of his journeys to social media showing how much it helps him travel, whether its for work or pleasure.
Charlie is on his daily commute
We loved seeing Judith Smale, ‘@judith_wheel_travel‘, using the Passenger Assistance app to travel to Newcastle to watch a football game! Judith is a wheelchair user who enjoys getting out and about, so has used the app many times since its launch to request her assistance.
Judith travelling to watch a football game in Nottingham
Amy, ‘@chronically_good_life‘, is another huge lover of our app as she is someone who regularly posts her journeys and specifies how the app allows her to commute more by train. She often uses the app for her journeys into college and days out with her friends.
Amy commuting to her college in Birmingham
Positive feedback on Twitter
Check out our 2021 wrap up!
The Best Wheelchair Accessible Pubs in England
Whether you’re looking for a quiet pint or a night at the pub with live music and karaoke, there is a great range of wheelchair-friendly pubs across England that everyone can enjoy. From gastro pubs with gourmet, Sunday roasts to historic venues that have been updated to meet varied access needs, we’ve rounded up information on England’s best wheelchair-accessible pubs and beer gardens to make it easier than ever to find a great place to go. We’ve also noted the nearest train stations where possible so that you can get a feel for those which are easiest to reach without a car or a taxi ride.
Let’s take a look at the top pubs and beer gardens to visit in the North East, North West, South East and South West of England.
Situated in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, The Abel Haywood is part pub, part boutique hotel. The venue offers a lift and disabled toilet to tick off the basics for visitors using wheelchairs and gets rave reviews for its array of locally-brewed and world beers, gins, cocktails and sumptuous breakfast brunches.
The Abel Haywood is conveniently located just a 10-minute stroll from Manchester Piccadilly station. Two of the venue’s three entrances provide level access from the pavement, with one also featuring an extra-wide door.
The Coach House Inn, Chester
39 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
This historic venue has been revamped for the modern world with level access via the main doors, an accessible toilet and plenty of space for motorised mobility scooters to move around the venue as well as wheelchairs.
Previously awarded such accolades as Best Pub/Bar in Chester and Best Restaurant in Chester, The Coach House Inn serves seasonal, locally-sourced produce alongside a plentiful array of cask ales, wines and soft drinks. You can reach this pub around 15 minutes’ walk from Chester railway station.
The Wheatsheaf, Wetheral
The Wheatsheaf Inn, Steele’s Bank, Wetheral, Carlisle, CA4 8HD
Handily located a five-minute walk from Wetheral station, just outside Carlisle, The Wheatsheaf is a friendly local pub that boasts affordable food and drinks, a spacious accessible beer garden and plenty of opportunities to catch sporting events on the pub’s TVs.
As well as a disabled toilet and level access to the bar area and outside seating from the rear, The Wheatsheaf also has its own car park to make visiting easier if you aren’t coming by train. Hosting quizzes and darts nights, this pub in England’s scenic North West is both child and dog-friendly, so that the whole family can enjoy the trip.
Crows Nest, Newcastle
137 Percy Street, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE1 7RY
Situated less than 20 minutes’ walk from Newcastle Central station, Crows Nest is a Greene King pub with ramped access available via the front doors, sloped access to the disabled toilet and staff who are regularly trained in disability and equality awareness.
This family-friendly pub serves food as well as drinks and does have outside seating for sunny days. It also offers both BT sports and Sky sports if you’re hoping to catch a match.
The Yard, Newcastle
2 Scotswood Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 7JB
Newcastle’s longest-running LGBT+ revenue, The Yard is less than 10 minutes’ walk from Newcastle Central station and offers warm welcomes and plenty of entertainment. Though the upstairs club area, Oscars, is not accessible, you can catch drag acts and DJs at ground level in The Yard itself if you time your visit well. Not just a great place to visit in the North East, The Yard has previously been shortlisted for Best LGBTQ+ Venue in the UK at the Great British Pub Awards. Not bad!
The Yard’s main entrance is step-free and the venue provides an accessible toilet for the sole use of disabled patrons.
The best wheelchair-friendly pubs in the South
The Royal Oak, Swallowcliffe
The Royal Oak, Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire, SP3 5PA
Swallowcliffe’s Royal Oak is a completely wheelchair-friendly pub with a spacious disabled toilet and step-free interior, which blends 18th century architecture with modern interior design. Offering seasonal, locally-grown produce on an ever-changing menu, this countryside pub is an idyllic spot for lunch and dinner, with Sunday roasts a popular pick.
Samuel Jones Smoke & Ale House
37 Commercial Road, Exeter, EX2 4AE
A leisurely 20-minute stroll from Exeter Station, the Samuel Jones Smoke & Ale House is a large pub and restaurant that comes highly rated for its friendly and welcoming staff, and it’s high culinary standards.
There’s street-level access to the pub via the main entrance and wide ramped access from the riverside entrance. While parts of the interior are stepped, you can reach the bar and disabled toilet step-free and the facilities leave enough space for a carer alongside wheelchair turning if needed. Table service is available, as the bar does not feature a lowered section.
The White Horse, Brancaster
The White Horse, Main Road, Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk, PE31 8BY
If you’re looking for a meal with a view, Brancaster’s The White Horse will not disappoint. Situated on the picturesque Norfolk coastline in the East of England, The White Horse looks out over sandy beaches and marshy coastline and offers some of the freshest seafood going.
As well as accommodating guide dogs, The White Horse is fully accessible from the bar and restaurant area right through to the paved outdoor dining terrace. Enter via the front doors for step-free access, as the rear entrance/exit does have steps.
The Wharf, Dartford
Cotton Lake, Galleon Boulevard, Dartford, Kent DA2 6QE
Ticking plenty of boxes with disabled parking spaces, wide doors, step-free access and roomy accessible toilet facilities, The Wharf in Dartford is also a local favourite, famed for its fresh and sustainable ingredients and an extensive range of beers and ciders. Drink and dine along the scenic waterside at this gourmet venue, which can be accessed in around a 15-minute stroll from Stone Crossing station.
Some areas of the interior are stepped, however, there is plenty of seating inside and out that can be enjoyed by visitors in wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
The North Laine Brewhouse, Brighton
27 Gloucester Place, Brighton, BN1 4AA
The journey from Brighton station to North Laine Brewhouse is around a 7-minute amble, and on arrival, you’ll find priority seating spaces for visitors with disabilities as well as the usual accessible toilet facilities and step-free navigation around the venue.
As well as an extensive menu of wings, burgers and other haute junk food, North Laine Brewhouse serves substantial Sunday roast dinners – including vegan and vegetarian options, and 50% off child-size portions.
While this list brings you a decent array of the best wheelchair-accessible pubs in England, we know there will be many more that are worth a mention! If you know of a great accessible venue that you think deserves a mention, feel free to let us know.
Travelling Alone as a Disabled Person
Travelling alone can be one of the most exciting things we ever do – an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and grow in confidence and independence.
But for people with additional accessibility requirements, the idea of solo travel can be daunting. This was the case before the pandemic and the addition of new obstacles and complexities added to the travel experience. Since the pandemic, we have heard how worried people are about travelling, and how this can undermine people’s confidence in attempting to tackle it alone. If you are someone with particular access needs who likes to travel but has been putting it off, you may now be making future plans to make up for lost time.
This article is here to offer practical advice and resources for disabled people travelling alone, mainly for longer overland trips and short adventures, but also for the kinds of trips we have to do often and aren’t just for fun.
Solo rail journeys
Travelling by train, when things work as they should, is its own specific pleasure, a way of slowing things down and seeing more of the place you’re travelling in than you would be able to via other means.
Accessible rail travel for solo UK passengers
The UK’s rail network connects every corner, serving over 2,500 stations and offering fantastic opportunities for the solo traveller.
There are a number of provisions in place that solo rail passengers with accessibility requirements should be aware of when travelling in the UK:
It is a legal requirement in the UK for all train operating companies (ToCs) to make trains accessible to all passengers.
There are detailed design standards in place to make stations and trains accessible.
Holders of a Disabled Persons Railcard get ⅓ off adult rail fares on the National Rail network.
ToCs should be able to offer flexible travel arrangements, as well as pre-arranged assistance requests. Turn Up and Go is a service running alongside assistance planned in advance, so it is possible to make spontaneous trips and expect to receive the assistance that you need. (That said, if possible we still recommend that assisted journeys are planned in advance.)
Requesting assisted rail journeys can be done by phone (calls for free can be made to National Rail on 0800 0223720), and also now by app – if you haven’t already, download the Passenger Assistance app to arrange your assisted rail journey. Click here for the iOS download, or here for Android.
Travelling by railway is a good place to start for solo travellers, due to the relative ease of planning journeys confidently in advance. Trains in the UK also typically have audio announcements about upcoming and current stops as standard, which can make rail travel much easier for blind and partially-sighted travellers than travelling by bus.
Accessible rail travel into Europe
Getting to Europe by train isn’t always the first-choice travel method, but train travel has advantages over air travel – especially in light of how airports and travel arrangements have to be navigated during the pandemic.
Rail travel into Europe via Eurostar works in a similar way to booked UK rail travel. Unfortunately, assisted journeys can not be booked in their own right, but they can be arranged via direct contact with Eurostar. All Eurostar trains have a space for people travelling with wheelchairs, with all spaces next to wheelchair accessible toilets with push-button access.
If you have accessibility requirements that are not wheelchair-related then tickets can be booked through the normal Eurostar booking platform. You’ll then have to contact Eurostar Assist to reserve additional support for when you arrive at the station. Eurostar has a good reputation for accessibility, and journeys into Europe from St Pancras are likely to be some of the most comfortable rail experiences for solo passengers you can find.
Once you’re in Europe, accessible travel arrangements will vary, depending on which countries you’re travelling in:
France’s train operator, SNCF, have a comprehensive support system call Accès Plus. Where needed, solo travellers can expect to be met at the station and also helped to the right seat.
Germany’s accessibility levels for solo travellers are probably some of the best in Europe, with a lot of investment put into accessible travel technology and design. Train operator Deutsche Bahn offer assistance to solo travellers – more information on this can be found here.
Spain’s map of accessible stations can be found here, and accessibility requests are managed by the Spanish rail company Renfe. The Renfo Atendo app can be used to request assisted journeys.
Travelling by coach may not exactly sound glamorous, but like rail travel, it can be planned in advance with some confidence, and for solo travellers, it has the additional benefit of being cost-effective. One thing that is worth keeping in mind is that not all bus services provide audio announcements about the stops along their routes. For blind and partially-sighted travellers, you may need to let the bus or coach driver know which stop you intend to alight at when you first board the vehicle so that they can assist you in getting off at the right time.
Much of the UK can be reached by coach, via services like National Express and Megabus, and by local bus services run by companies like First.
While it is a good idea to contact coach company customer services before travelling, it isn’t always necessary to request assistance in the same way as rail travel. Bigger coach stations are typically very accessible for wheelchair users and travellers with guide dogs, with staff members also trained in offering assistance for all accessibility needs. The Sunflower Lanyard Scheme is also supported by National Express and other coach service providers.
Bus journeys can also often be booked in advance, but it can be easier to purchase your ticket from the driver on the day. For wheelchair users, most bus companies use standard wheelchair measurements of 1200mm long and 700mm wide. All single and double-decker buses should now be wheelchair accessible, although some older buses may not have the ability to be lowered, which can be an issue for many wheelchair users. If you’re planning to travel at a busy time or via a busy region where there is a risk that limited wheelchair spaces may already be booked, it is advisable to plan ahead.
Planning ahead for Megabus and National Express
Megabus advise that travellers contact them ahead of buying tickets if they require a wheelchair space on the coach or space to store a wheelchair in the hold, but don’t offer specific guidance for other assistance: https://uk.megabus.com/conditions/passengers-requiring-assistance
For rural locations, it is advisable to contact the local bus companies to check how accessible their buses are. In some cases travelling alone might be difficult, even with some accessibility provisions in place.
That being said, First – who provide bus services across most of the UK – do offer a guarantee of “Extra Help to Travel” for those who need it. You can download an Extra Help to Travel card from their website which shows the driver that you may need assistance. That could be extra time to get to your seat before they pull away, having the driver face you when speaking so that you can lip read, or something else entirely. Find out more at https://www.firstbus.co.uk/help-and-support/extra-help-travel
Planning tips and resources
Travelling alone is mostly a question of planning and being confident in what to expect from your journey. A concern shared by many Passenger Assistance users, perhaps especially those with visual impairments, is to do with the accessibility of travel planning platforms and websites, which are not always built to be accessible by all users.
Dale Reardon, CEO of Australian business Travel for All, gave us this perspective: “The worst problem I face when trying to plan and book a trip, be that something as simple as a café or restaurant booking up to a hotel reservation, is in relation to using a website that is inaccessible. As a blind person I use a screenreader software program to let me access my computer, surf the internet, read the computer screen to me, navigate websites etc. However so many websites, I reckon 90%, have inaccessible booking forms, enquiry forms, reservation forms, enquiry forms, pricing and availability pages… sometimes I can’t even use the contact form as you need to select dates to submit the form and I can’t use those controls either”.
Unfortunately, there is a lot to be done to improve the accessibility of web-based services, as well as mobile apps. That said, if you have selected a website to book travel and it has been built to comply with W3C Web Accessibility Guidelines to at least Conformance Level “AA”, then it should be accessible to most users. Many larger websites, for example, the National Express website, are built to Conformance Level “AAA”, which meets high accessibility standards.
The usability of apps and websites you use to plan solo will go a long way towards making the overall experience a positive one. Some more general tips we have heard from solo travellers include:
Carry a portable charger around – for many rail travellers with additional access requirements a working phone can be beneficial.
Accessible facilities in well-known places for food and coffee – for example Mcdonald’s and Starbucks, are typically reliable as well as relatively easy to find.
Prepare service dogs for new situations. Service dogs are very highly trained, but it still can be a good idea to go for test runs.
There are support networks out there that can be incredibly helpful for solo travellers – these can range to local Facebook groups, to aid organisations like Germany’s Bahnhofsmission offering independent help at more than 100 German railway stations.
Travellers with reduced mobility are entitled to support and to be treated in the right way. Learning about what you are entitled can make for a more confident travel experience, especially when going outside of the UK. Information on EU rights for travellers with reduced mobility can be found here.
It can be tremendously beneficial to travel alone, including for people with accessibility requirements. It’s understandable to have concerns but we hope that with the right resources the prospect of solo travel, either for a one-off adventure or as a regular part of daily life, can be made less daunting than it initially seems.
For more information and support around accessible travel in the UK and abroad, explore the Euan’s Guide website for first-hand disabled access travel and tourism reviews. AccessAble is another useful website, offering clear information on facilities and access at venues in the UK and Ireland.
