Southern and Thameslink can now assist passengers all the time at nine South London stations

New mobile assistance teams have started work in a trial to further support disabled passengers and other customers at nine stations in South London.

It means support should be available at the station within 20 minutes every day of the week – weekends included – to board every train that is running. Until now, Southern could provide assistance at the stations only when the ticket offices were staffed, mostly on weekday mornings and early afternoons.

The stations are:

• Chipstead, Coulsdon Town*, Haydons Road, Kenley, Mitcham Eastfields, Mitcham Junction, Reedham, Whyteleafe, Whyteleafe South

Southern and Thameslink’s Accessibility Lead Carl Martin said: “We're constantly looking for ways to improve the level of service we give people who need assistance, to overcome the barriers that prevent independent travel on the railway.

“These new mobile assistance teams could transform the lives of many of our customers. It will help us create a more accessible and inclusive railway, where everyone has the confidence to travel with us.

“We really want people to try out the service and let us know what they think about it through our customer contact centre.”

The service is intended for anyone who needs assistance getting around the station and boarding a train – whether it be an older person with luggage, someone who is visually impaired or, where platforms are step-free*, a ramp to board the train for a wheelchair or mobility scooter user.

Customers request assistance when they arrive at the station, either by contacting the control centre from the station help point, using the ‘emergency and assisted travel button’, or by calling freephone 0808 168 1238 or texting 07970 511077.

The mobile assistance teams, who are based at Purley and Streatham Common, will drive to the nine stations, aiming to arrive within 20 minutes, to help the customer board the train and notify the destination station of their arrival. On the customer’s return journey, the mobile assistance team will be there to greet the customer off the train.

If passengers prefer, they can book the mobile assistance team further in advance by contacting the assisted travel team either online or by calling 0800 138 1016.

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Editor’s notes

*Coulsdon Town is staffed until 22:00 each day but there are some late-night services outside these hours that will now be covered at the station

* Chipstead, Haydons Road and Reedham stations each have steps to one of their two platforms. However, the team can still assist passengers on those platforms who can negotiate the steps but, for example, may be infirm or have a visual impairment.

Passengers can feed back their experience of the service either by email at comments@southernrailway.com or customerservices@thameslinkrailway.com or by calling 0800 138 1018, which is a Relay UK text service for people with hearing and speech difficulties