UK: Thameslink has released an audio guide describing its 115 Siemens Mobility Class 700 trains which was written with the help of blind passenger Dave Smith who sits on the operator’s accessibility Advisory Panel.
The guide is available on the Assisted Travel pages of the company’s website.
‘I use these trains all the time but for someone else who is blind or partially sighted it can be incredibly daunting’, Smith said. ’Anyone can log onto the Thameslink website and listen to this audio guide before setting off, helping them understand the train layout before they travel, helping reduce any anxieties.
‘It describes such things as where they might find a toilet – and its layout – and where and how to contact the driver in an emergency. The guide gives them access to information that sighted travellers take for granted.’
Govia Thameslink Railway has provided sight loss charity Thomas Pocklington Trust with a grant to create audio guides for a further three train types and to trial audio guides of Eastbourne, Brighton, Sutton, Blackfriars, Stevenage and Luton Airport Parkway stations.
