Crosswords2 mins ago
Rail Travel
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Can anyone offer any advice please. We are off on a train journey soon involving 3 changes, our luggage won't be heavy, but Himself has an arthritic back, and at barely 5' yours trulys wee legs have enough bother getting onto a train never mind with a suitcase ( and being wee my kids always warn me about falling thru the gap!). Does anyone know if there is a service which takes your luggage from you on arrival and you collect at destination as when flying?
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I ran a railway station for several years and I've never heard of anything like the service you're looking for. ((I very much doubt that one could ever exist as it would be a security nightmare because there would need to be X-ray facilities at every station).
However interchange stations are normally well-staffed and you can book assistance with your luggage (free of charge). Just tell me the rail route and I'll provide you with the phone number you need to ensure that everything goes smoothly.
However interchange stations are normally well-staffed and you can book assistance with your luggage (free of charge). Just tell me the rail route and I'll provide you with the phone number you need to ensure that everything goes smoothly.
>>>Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned porters, who would see your luggage on and off the train in the expectation of a small tip to supplement their wages?
They're now called 'customer service' staff, Obiter, and (unlike 'good old-fashioned porters') you don't have to hunt them out. You simply make one phone call and they'll meet you at your starting point and help you onto the train. Then there will be staff waiting by the correct carriage to assist you off your first train and onto your second one. That will be repeated at each subsequent change and then staff will assist you to the taxi rank (or wherever) at the end of your rail journey. Further, none of them will EXPECT a tip and many will actively REFUSE tips (as I always did).
The system works well. See here
http://
and here
http://
if you don't believe me!
They're now called 'customer service' staff, Obiter, and (unlike 'good old-fashioned porters') you don't have to hunt them out. You simply make one phone call and they'll meet you at your starting point and help you onto the train. Then there will be staff waiting by the correct carriage to assist you off your first train and onto your second one. That will be repeated at each subsequent change and then staff will assist you to the taxi rank (or wherever) at the end of your rail journey. Further, none of them will EXPECT a tip and many will actively REFUSE tips (as I always did).
The system works well. See here
http://
and here
http://
if you don't believe me!
>>>but is that not now restricted to disabled/mobility impaired customers
The service is available to anyone. Rail staff have no way of knowing whether an apparently-fit person who books the service is just a 'lazy ***' or someone with a back problem or a heart condition, so they all get treated in exactly the same way. (That's possibly unless they make it abundantly clear that they simply regard rail staff as dirt. We used to have one regular lady traveller who would announce, in a very snooty voice, "I've booked a porter!" and who would then look sniffingly at me as I dared to lay my fingers upon her luggage. She was the ONLY customer that I ever accepted tips from but, since she always gave me a fiver - which went into the staff tea fund , rather than into my own pocket - for carrying just one or two light bags no more than about 20 yards, it was probably worth being looked down upon!)
The service is available to anyone. Rail staff have no way of knowing whether an apparently-fit person who books the service is just a 'lazy ***' or someone with a back problem or a heart condition, so they all get treated in exactly the same way. (That's possibly unless they make it abundantly clear that they simply regard rail staff as dirt. We used to have one regular lady traveller who would announce, in a very snooty voice, "I've booked a porter!" and who would then look sniffingly at me as I dared to lay my fingers upon her luggage. She was the ONLY customer that I ever accepted tips from but, since she always gave me a fiver - which went into the staff tea fund , rather than into my own pocket - for carrying just one or two light bags no more than about 20 yards, it was probably worth being looked down upon!)
So your train operators are Abellio Greater Anglia, East Midlands and East Coast. A single phone call to Abellio Greater Anglia's assisted travel team should be all that you need: 0800 028 2878 (free on a BT landline), 7 days per week, 0800-2200. Alternatively email [email protected]
You shouldn't need to contact anyone else but, should you need it, the contact number for East Coast (who run the stations at Peterborough and Berwick) is 08457 225 225
Diss station (which is only 20 miles away from me) often only has one or two staff on duty, so arrive early to give them time to help you. (Although there are steps up to the Norwich-bound platform, you'll need to arrive at the main entrance on the London-bound side to let the staff know you've arrived and to get help taking your bags over the bridge).
The staff at Diss will phone through to Norwich to tell them which coach you're in, so you should be met when you arrive at Norwich, where you'll be given assistance to the East Midlands train (which quite often runs from the opposite side of the same platform that the trains from Diss arrive at anyway).
The Norwich team will then phone through to Peterborough, to arrange the next stage of your assistance. (You might find again that your 3rd train leaves from either the same platform, or directly opposite, the platform you arrived on. That's quite common when changing trains at Peterborough).
It's many years since I last visited Berwick station but I'm confident that, having been notified by the staff at Peterborough, there will be someone waiting by your coach to assist you when you arrive there.
You shouldn't need to contact anyone else but, should you need it, the contact number for East Coast (who run the stations at Peterborough and Berwick) is 08457 225 225
Diss station (which is only 20 miles away from me) often only has one or two staff on duty, so arrive early to give them time to help you. (Although there are steps up to the Norwich-bound platform, you'll need to arrive at the main entrance on the London-bound side to let the staff know you've arrived and to get help taking your bags over the bridge).
The staff at Diss will phone through to Norwich to tell them which coach you're in, so you should be met when you arrive at Norwich, where you'll be given assistance to the East Midlands train (which quite often runs from the opposite side of the same platform that the trains from Diss arrive at anyway).
The Norwich team will then phone through to Peterborough, to arrange the next stage of your assistance. (You might find again that your 3rd train leaves from either the same platform, or directly opposite, the platform you arrived on. That's quite common when changing trains at Peterborough).
It's many years since I last visited Berwick station but I'm confident that, having been notified by the staff at Peterborough, there will be someone waiting by your coach to assist you when you arrive there.
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