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help passes for train journeys

longman

I've learned tonight about a new idea being tried on transpennine express (TPE) rail services in the north of England, apparently only brought out in the last few weeks (but might be longer).

The passes are called "blue assist" and consist of a blue card and a blue lanyard carried by those who might need assistance on a train journey. It seems you have to register with one, and if you are wearing it or show it, staff will try to assist you with your journey.

This could be used by people on the autistic spectrum.

I don't know how well this has been publicised. It may already be quite well known, but it was unclear which disabled organisations had been made aware of it.

If anyone manages to use it for travelling on TPE, if the moderators will permit, it might be useful to feedback, if only to establish if it does really help, and make more people aware of it.

It sounds like a good idea, but if its only going out to organisations for the blind or wheelchair users, it may be a while otherwise before people on the spectrum get to find out about it.

  • It further turns out that Carol Povey and Mark Lever of NAS were invited to the launch but couldn't make it, so NAS must know about this initiative. Although at present only available on TPE in the north of England, hopefully if successful it will be rolled out across the country.

    Perhaps I need to explain:

    Rail travel can be a difficult area for people on the spectrum (it is for me because I get confused easily and am affected by all the noise). There has long been a history of travel difficulty, sometimes reported in this forum.

    For example parents who arranged 24 hours in advance for help with their son who had difficulties in big stations, the member of staff who turned out decided he couldn't see a disability so wasn't prepared to help (apologies to the original posters, I'm going from memory).

    This was borne out in a Passenger Focus "secret shopper" survey last year where a number of disabled people made journeys and reported their experiences. One of the major failings was with invisible disability - staff were not taking non-obvious disabilities seriously.

    So the blue assist cards could be a boon to travellers on the autistic spectrum, because in principle they should flag up a need for support to rail staff, and users can report back any difficulty. If you don't need help you just don't show the card, but if you've got it with you, and do find you need help, then you can produce it.

    So even if this is only localised in the north of England at present, if it became available more widely it could be of great benefit both to individuals travelling alone and to parents and carers with people who have difficulties with stations and trains.

    So support to this initiative from the autistic community could be important to getting it more widely available.

  • It turns out NAS is one of the organisations that has been briefed and involved in the launch. As this could benefit people on the autistic spectrum, why haven't we heard about it anywhere on the NAS site?

  • I have identified a website for this. Unfortunately I cannot get the website past Mollom.

    All I can do is suggest people search google for blue assist uk, and it should come up