As you may be aware on the 29th of January The Dart launched an “Improved Accessibility Pilot Programme”. The pilot will run for an initial 6 months before being reviewed. Please see Irish Rail’s link for more information: http://www.irishrail.ie/access-dart.
The project will see two main changes in how the Dart service functions. 1. The notice period required for ramps will be reduced from 24 to 4 hours, and 2. Customer Service Officers will operate out of 13 hub stations, from which they are to be deployed to required stations to operate ramps.
The intention of the project is to reduce disadvantage and increase accessibility for passengers with disabilities. Concerns with the pilot’s effectiveness are already being highlighted.
DFI, IWA and CRC intend to monitor the project and report back to Irish Rail and the Minister for Transport following the trial period. To do this we want to gather your first-hand experience of the service, and whether it’s unchanged, working better, or worse. We invite you to report your experiences to us. Each week staff at DFI or IWA will review and collate the reports we receive outlining the issues.
We want to hear about all types of experiences. Examples include, wheelchair users being left on a platform without ramp access, not being able to get through on the phone to offer notice etc.
Your reports can be sent to [email protected] and should include the following:
- Your name and contact details
- A brief description of what happened
- The date and time that the issue arose
- The station/s in question
The above information will not be stored following the 6 month scheme and completion of the report. Your name will not be used publicly unless you give permission for us to do so.
We ask that you let local people with disabilities know about our invitation for reports and circulate the above details to them. The volume and detail of emails we receive will determine extent of the report we can offer at the end of the project. They will also inform the suggestions we make to Irish Rail on how to further adjust their service to make it more accessible.
For more information contact: Aoife Delaney @ [email protected] / 0864669856