“On one side people with disabilities have the same rights. EU countries similarly have different procedures for requesting assistance, and services aren’t always available in other languages, Anca said. "They're assuming someone with a disability doesn't have anywhere to be," he said.ĭisability groups are also warning that staff training falls short, and once onboard, access to facilities such as restaurant carts or toilets remains restricted. Hoste also faces challenges like broken metro station lifts and canceled trains, things that are minor inconveniences for other travelers, but risk snowballing into detours or long waits for him. But he said the people he phones to book assistance aren't always aware of the timeline, which means arrangements are sometimes done at the last minute. Hoste's commute takes him from Ghent's central station to Brussels South, both big stations that require only a three-hour warning, and then onto a metro.
But Hoste, the communications and events director for the Egmont Institute think tank who also uses a wheelchair, has every intention of picking up where he left off when it's possible. The pandemic brought Jean-Christophe Hoste's commutes between Ghent and Brussels to a temporary halt. That means a disability comes with a need for meticulous planning, which doesn't leave wiggle room for last-minute plans or a work meeting running late. If you want to go the beach, “then you have to know beforehand how long you would like to be on the beach, how much time you would like to drink your wine, and how long you’d like to be with your friends,” she said.
The requirement for long advance notices kills the spontaneity of travel, Anca said. “Go wherever you like to go, without asking somebody.” But the right to “turn up and go” - something most people take for granted - remains a rare luxury for people with a disability. The issue is vitally important for people like Anca, a wheelchair user with first-hand experience with accessibility problems at train stations across the Continent. In an ideal scenario, people with a disability would be able to buy tickets, access platforms and board trains without assistance, she said. However, she's holding out hope for a “good surprise” when the reform moves to the plenary. Greens MEP Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg, a shadow rapporteur on the file, doesn't expect the TRAN Committee will want to “reopen Pandora’s box” and make changes to the compromise deal.
Their push also includes proposals to do away with the pre-notification requirement in the busiest stations, the three-hour alert in mid-sized stations and the 12-hour notification for assistance in smaller stations. They want to change several parts of the text, including a clause that allows rail companies to dodge their obligations in the event of unavoidable circumstances. Some MEPs from the Greens and The Left are making a push to revive parts of Parliament’s initial, more ambitious position. “It’s about the right of people with disabilities to live the same life as everybody else,” said Gunta Anca, secretary-general of the European Disability Forum. But the bill's provisions fall far short of what advocacy groups for the disabled want - and there's a push to revamp the legislation in Parliament on Monday.
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