Wheelchair Discount :)

EycplUK

Just thought we would post this to see if anyone else has been treated in the same manner when travelling by train .........


All £ figures are approx.
Travelling from Bridlington to Hull , 2 Passengers , 1 in wheelchair and I Carer , go to ticket office to buy return using Disabled Railcard and given figure of £18 return , that's fine , machine would not issue tickets due to mechanical problems and train due out very shortly so told to board train and gat tickets from Guard , the guy from the ticket office came to the train and told the guard of the machine problem which was why we were boarding without tickets , that's fine , boarded using the ramp and the guard settled us in the wheelchair space with carer on seat opposite . when he came back for tickets he asked how much had we been quoted and we told him £18 return with Disabled Railcard , he checked his machine and said I can do it cheaper than that if you wish to do the trip staying in the wheelchair , which would have been the case anyway , that's fine , tickets were priced at £14 return , which was 1 return fare for disabled @£7 and same for carer ! now that was fine but why did not the ticket office make this price ?
It was only £4 difference but on a longer journey may add up to a larger saving which all depends , we suppose , on travelling in your wheelchair and not taking a seat ?
Anyone else had this offer when travelling with a wheelchair passenger ?

Axial

Without looking up fares I get you were sold the SDR ticket with 50% discount (D50)

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/44965.aspx

wealdroam

Axial wrote: »

Without looking up fares I get you were sold the SDR ticket with 50% discount (D50)

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/44965.aspx

Yes, that seems about right.
An Anytime Day Return is £14.40.
So for two, at 50% discount, = £14.40.

c0113tt3

The facts are that from 31/03/14 the disabled / carer travel pass can no longer be used on trains, and you then can get a 50% discount on carer / passenger if either registered blind or wheelchair user. The catch is that you have to pay the on peak all day fare even if travelling off peak !! In effect being disabled and requiring a carer, you in fact pay more than an able bodied person travelling off peak !! Simply put it is disability discrimination, and needs to be highlighted nationally, and requires complaint to passanger focus.

wealdroam

c0113tt3 wrote: »

The facts are that from 31/03/14 the disabled / carer travel pass can no longer be used on trains, and you then can get a 50% discount on carer / passenger if either registered blind or wheelchair user. The catch is that you have to pay the on peak all day fare even if travelling off peak !! In effect being disabled and requiring a carer, you in fact pay more than an able bodied person travelling off peak !! Simply put it is disability discrimination, and needs to be highlighted nationally, and requires complaint to passanger focus.

Not sure how you work out that a disabled person and their carer would be paying more that able bodied people.

Surely two people travelling, being able bodied or disabled, can chose to buy off-peak tickets if that's cheaper, can't they?

The fact is that that point is made very clear in the National Rail Enquiries webpage linked to by Axial:

Please note, that sometimes it may be cheaper to buy an undiscounted Off-Peak or Advance ticket.

And talking about facts, can you please provide a link to the fact you state?

c0113tt3

Unfortunately the facts i state are correct, confirmed at a ceo rail company who states that its a national policy, and to take the complaint to an MP /passenger focus to highlight the issue. This issue has been present for years, but it is only since removal of train travel from disabled/carer passes, that this procedure has been over looked, and not affected anyone.

Here is an example for you to understand.

Travelling off peak non disabled single person pays a single person off peak fare. A disabled person requiring a carer (either registered blind / wheelchair) travelling off peak has 2 options. Either to use/purchase a disabled rail user card (£20) and then can get a third off off peak fares for themselves and carer (as both are charged for off peak), OR provide eveidence of wheelchair or registered blind certificate, and then you can get a 50% reduction for both passenger and carer BUT ONLY on on peak fares ONLY. This reduction can not be used on off peak fares.

So in other words, an able bodied person travelling off peak pays off peak, but a disabled person with carer has to pay on peak !!

To put it into figures.

Single able bodied person travelling off peak, lets say £5 off peak and £6 on peak, but he is travelling off peak so he pays £5.

A disabled and carer can either:

Pay £20 (for disabled/carer rail pass) and then gets a third off both themselves and carer, so thats 2 fares at £5, £10 total, minus a third off each fare, so they would pay approx £6.66 total.

or:

Not have the disabled / carer pass, and use eveidence of wheelchair/registered blind, to get the 50% reduction on ON PEAK fares only, though tavelling off peak. So that 2 x £6, total £12, minus 50%, total £6.

The able bodied person only paid £5 !!

coolmilne

But its still cheaper than paying for 2 off peak fares?

Getting a discount is better than nothing, considering a single disabled person does not get a discount according the the link posted above, so if you need or want a carer with you then you get a 50% discount based on the peak times, at the end of the day its still a discount they don't need to give?

wealdroam

c0113tt3 wrote: »

Unfortunately the facts i state are correct, confirmed at a ceo rail company who states that its a national policy, and to take the complaint to an MP /passenger focus to highlight the issue.

OK, that's great.

If I told you I was a CEO of a train operating company, you probably wouldn't believe me... and I wouldn't blame you.

I can't take the issue to my MP, can I?
What do I say?... "some anonymous person called c0113tt3 on an internet forum tells me..."

It really would be good if you were able to provide some evidence of your allegation that there is a change taking place on 31 March 2014. That's all I'm asking.

c0113tt3 wrote: »

To put it into figures.

Single able bodied person travelling off peak, lets say £5 off peak and £6 on peak, but he is travelling off peak so he pays £5.

A disabled and carer can either:

Pay £20 (for disabled/carer rail pass) and then gets a third off both themselves and carer, so thats 2 fares at £5, £10 total, minus a third off each fare, so they would pay approx £6.66 total.

or:

Not have the disabled / carer pass, and use eveidence of wheelchair/registered blind, to get the 50% reduction on ON PEAK fares only, though tavelling off peak. So that 2 x £6, total £12, minus 50%, total £6.

The able bodied person only paid £5 !!

Yes, yes, I understand all that.

But the bit you appear to have overlooked is that two people are travelling for that £6.
That's only £3.00 each... a bargain.

c0113tt3

No its not a great discount, £6 for 2 people, the disabled person requiring a carer is being penalised. It is not by choice that they have to pay for 2, the equality laws should make them equal to an able bodied person.

As for evidence you can get this from the rail company themselves, as I have in writing, the changes from 31/03/14 are with the national concesionary travel scheme, which previously had buses and trains, but from that date is just busses only that can be used. Due to transport cuts to local councils most if not all are adopting the cut in using trains with the pass.