Thameslink can now assist passengers all the time at three south London stations

A new mobile assistance team has started work on the Thameslink route in south London, in a trial to support disabled passengers and other customers at Beckenham Hill, Crofton Park and Ravensbourne stations.

It means support should be at hand at these three stations every day of the week – weekends included – for every train that is running. Until now, Thameslink could provide assistance only when the ticket offices were staffed, on weekday mornings and early afternoons.

The initiative is part of plans announced by Thameslink and its parent company GTR last year to give all passengers the confidence to travel no matter their access need, or the level of support they require.

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.

“The new mobile assistance team is very much a trial and we want to seek feedback from the people who actually use it.

“I really think this new service 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.”

The service is intended for anyone who needs assistance getting around the station and boarding a train – whether it be elderly people 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 by contacting Thameslink’s control centre, either 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 team, which is based at Beckenham Hill, will drive to Crofton Park or Ravensbourne, 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.

Kay Pallaris from Crofton Park Railway Garden user group said: “This is really good news. I know that a friend of mine who is a wheelchair user has had to cancel visiting us in the past because he couldn’t get assistance at Crofton Park station.”

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Editor’s notes

* The only platform with steps is Platform 1 at Ravensbourne, for trains travelling away from London; all others are step-free. However, the team can still assist passengers on that platform who can negotiate the stairs but may be infirm or have a visual impairment, for example.

Passengers can travel with confidence during the pandemic, knowing the following measures are in place:

• All Thameslink trains have air conditioning which continually refreshes the air in each carriage every 6-9 minutes
• Alerts will show busy trains in online journey planners such as National Rail Enquiries, where you can also subscribe to journey alerts and see information on busier services
• GTR sanitises all 2,700 of its train carriages every day and uses a long-lasting viricide across stations and trains which kills coronavirus for weeks at a time
• Independent laboratory results show that Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern trains are testing negative for Covid-19