The Disability-Research Discussion List

Managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds

Help for DISABILITY-RESEARCH Archives


DISABILITY-RESEARCH Archives

DISABILITY-RESEARCH Archives


DISABILITY-RESEARCH@JISCMAIL.AC.UK


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

DISABILITY-RESEARCH Home

DISABILITY-RESEARCH Home

DISABILITY-RESEARCH  October 2013

DISABILITY-RESEARCH October 2013

Options

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password

Subject:

Re: Disability History - Travelling behind Bars - rail travel in 1980's video

From:

Larry Arnold <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Larry Arnold <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Sat, 19 Oct 2013 16:41:57 +0100

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (55 lines)

I can remember those days. I used to travel as my mums companion in the guards van, she had somewhere to sit, I didn't, those were far from comfortable journeys for either of us. The real palaver came when getting off, as that required a ramp, but sometimes none arrived so I had to assist in physically lifting my mum and chair off onto the platform!

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Keith Armstrong
Sent: 19 October 2013 02:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Disability History - Travelling behind Bars - rail travel in 1980's video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ys8-5wWyM or https://vimeo.com/77252859

Up until of the 1990's the only way British wheelchair users were allowed to travel (after having to book a day in advance and buying a rail ticket) was in a 'guards van'.

Despite this type of carriage being known as 'the Guard's van', it was very rare for a railway employee i.e. a Guard) to actually be in the van. There was no heating, nor was there any additional seating for companions of wheelchair users, or Tannoy speakers or even an alarm. There was a charge of course for the train ticket, although a discount was given.

I was once put on the wrong train by a British Rail employee and ended up in Slough. When I questioned the guard, he said that he had announced the destination three times on the speaker system, I had to point out that none of these speakers reached the carriage that I had been put in.

I am amazed that, as far as I know, no female wheelchair user was ever sexually assaulted in this type of carriage, considering she would have no access to any alarm bell, nor would it be likely for any witnesses who could get help. The use of this carriage represents a policy of segregation of wheelchair users by the British Rail Board although people have been using wheelchairs in the UK for far longer than the existence of the train.

At one time in the late 1980's I travelled to Birmingham and  shared the guards-van with the disabled television presenter Sian Vasey. I asked her about her return journey. She told me that someone had left the window wide open which she could not close and was made ill because of the cold draft. 

Alan Kerr told me that he rarely travelled by train because of the guard's van. He said "I was travelling up from Chatham and was stuck in the cage and the door for the platform was on the other side. I recall screaming and shouting to get passengers to get the Guard to release me. Another major reason was and still is the accessibility of the station platforms".

As of 2013 there are NO plans to make the new expensive CROSS RAIL fully accessible to wheelchair users.

John Evelyn (a contemporary of Samuel Pepys) recorded the use of a wheelchair in his diary entry of the 11th January, 1672, the earliest passenger train in England only dates back to September, 1825, one hundred and fifty-three years later. [Oxford English Dictionary, (2nd Ed.), 1989, Vol. XX.,  p. 203.]

What the lowering of the standards of living, the slash in income and the rise in train fares, rail travel is no longer affordable for the vast majority of disabled people in the UK.

British Railways (BR) 'Guard's van': photographs taken in the late 1980's.
http://jpgmag.com/stories/15541

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ys8-5wWyM

________________End of message________________

This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).

Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]

Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html

You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.

________________End of message________________

This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).

Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]

Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html

You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

JiscMail Tools


RSS Feeds and Sharing


Advanced Options


Archives

March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998


JiscMail is a Jisc service.

View our service policies at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/ and Jisc's privacy policy at https://www.jisc.ac.uk/website/privacy-notice

For help and support help@jisc.ac.uk

Secured by F-Secure Anti-Virus CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager