Railways and Disability Rights
The European Union’s
legislation on passenger rights that became effective in December 2009 sets out
minimum quality standards that have to be guaranteed to rail passengers. Inter
alia, it lays down the right to transport for passengers with reduced mobility
and is a major step in ensuring that these passengers can travel in a way that
is comparable to other citizens. Railway companies have been mandated to
provide them assistance on board as well as during boarding and disembarking
from a train, free of charge. The stated objective of this legislation is to
safeguard users’ rights for passengers and to improve the quality and
effectiveness of rail passenger services in order to help increase the share of
rail transport in relation to other modes of transport.
In some European
countries, there are commercial agreements between the station manager and the
railway undertaking to help passengers in boarding and alighting from trains.
In several others, information about the meeting place and the type of
disability is sent by email, and the station staff then waits for the passenger
at the agreed location. In Sweden, the ministry of transport has decided that
such assistance should be provided by a neutral body accessible to all
operators. The company contracted for this work takes charge of bringing the
customer to the platform and the train, and thereafter the train operator’s
staff helps the passenger to board the train. In Italy, passengers with reduced
mobility can notify their need for assistance to the dedicated service centres
set up by the infrastructure manager; specialised ground staff, dedicated to
supporting persons with reduced mobility then help those who have asked for
assistance to board or alight from trains. In Slovenia, special lifts have been
purchased to enable wheelchair users to board trains at major stations. And, in
the Netherlands, all the trains managed by Arriva — the largest private
operator in the country — have a sliding step that enables disabled persons to
get on and off trains without assistance.
In India, the government
enacted the People with Disabilities, Equal Opportunities and Protection of
Rights Act in 1995 that provides for equal opportunities and facilities for the
physically challenged. Subsequently, comprehensive instructions were issued by
Indian Railways in 2007 for setting up various facilities at stations and in
the trains for the disabled.
Replying to a question in
the Lok Sabha in 2010, the minister of railways had stated that specially
designed Second class Luggage-cum-Guard coaches, known as SLRD, had been
declared as unreserved coaches, fully earmarked for physically handicapped
persons in all mail/express trains (except fully reserved trains). She had
further elaborated that about 680 pairs of mail/express trains except special
type trains (Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi, AC Special and Duronto) had been
provided with one SLRD coach, and that all Garib Rath trains had been provided
with coach having accommodation for physically handicapped persons.
Unfortunately, even
today, the assistance provided to a wheelchair-bound passenger is only minimal.
The problems encountered by persons with restricted mobility while travelling
by train are many and call for urgent remedial measures. The coaches for the
disabled are reported to be two feet high and over one foot away from the
platform without a ramp. The coaches are also generally unreserved and a disabled
person would rarely prefer travelling unreserved as it may compromise with his
safety and convenience.
Inter-platform transfer
continues to be a major irritant. In the words of an aggrieved passenger, “the
basic issue of inter-platform transfer seems to have been entirely ignored. I
have always been taken as a luggage over the railway tracks by a coolie,
putting me as a passenger at a higher risk of accidents than anybody else”.
Another passenger laments that at a station in Delhi there was no arrangement
for any wheelchair and he had to be transported on a luggage cart across the
tracks through a dimly lighted area that was risky and dangerous.
It is to be regretted
that the booklet “Trains at a Glance” containing the timetable and other
information for rail travelers makes only a passing mention of the assistance
available to passengers with reduced mobility. It merely states that 150 ‘A’
class stations have been identified for providing booths for making assistance
available to the physically challenged. Had the Indian Railways cared enough,
it should have given the names of all the stations where such facilities have
been provided, with detailed information about the availability of ramps,
accessible toilets, services at stations, and the meeting points where the
disabled passenger can meet the station staff before joining the train. This
would have been extremely helpful not only to the domestic but also to the
foreign travelers who visit India to experience the romance of rail journeys.
It is not that Indian
Railways are unmindful of the requirements of travelers with special needs, but
what is lacking is the proper implementation, supervision and monitoring of the
facilities that have been provided so far, and a well-formulated plan for
upgrading these to international standards. One fails to see the seriousness of
railways’ intent in reaching out to the disabled, and assuring them that they
are no less privileged than its other customers. As things stand today, the
procedures for getting wheelchairs at the stations have not been streamlined,
there is absence of trained staff to escort disabled passengers to the train,
and the ramps over which wheelchairs can be moved from the platform to the
coach have not been made available. Concessions in train fares are not
sufficient to incentivise the disabled to travel by train. They must also be
made to feel that they are not being discriminated against.
Perhaps there is a strong
case for bringing out a separate Railway Disabled Passenger Rights Act so that
access to special facilities at railway stations and trains can be demanded by
passengers as a matter of right, enforceable by law, and with penalties on the
transporter in the event these are not made available. To begin with, the Act
may cover only the major railway stations, and later be extended to other
stations in a planned, phased and time-bound manner.
The
author is a former MD of Railway Finance Corporation.
E-mail:
mathur.surendra@gmail.com
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