Blind passenger from Surrey helps Thameslink write audio guide to its trains

Dave belongs to an Accessibility Advisory Panel of disabled passengers who regularly use Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Thameslink trains, which are all operated by parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).

The group gives advice and feedback to make travelling by train easier and more accessible.

He said: “I use these trains all the time but for someone else who is blind or partially sighted it can be incredibly daunting.

“When you can’t see, it’s difficult to understand your environment and what’s around you.

“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.”

Millions of trips are made on Thameslink Class 700 trains every year. They connect stations north and south of the River Thames as far afield as Bedford, Brighton, Cambridge, Horsham, Gatwick Airport, London St Pancras, Peterborough, Sutton and Sevenoaks.

The guide is available on the Assisted Travel pages of the company’s website www.thameslinkrailway.com and some of the features it describes include:

• accessible carriages that are always in the centre of the train, with wheelchair spaces and an accessible toilet, and level boarding at stations between London St Pancras and London Bridge
• doors that open into a pocket in the train wall and make a bleeping noise before closing
• handrails with good colour contrast to hold while getting on and off, and a central grab pole in the vestibule
• seats two-by-two with wide corridors and open access between each carriage
• large luggage racks
• automated announcements throughout the journey
• toilet layouts – where to find the washbasin, flush button, and lock lever
• where to find the button to speak to the driver and how to sound the alarm.

The audio guide to Thameslink Class 700 trains complements other tools available on all four GTR websites (Thameslink, Southern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern), including the Easy Ticket and Easy Train Travel guides, aimed at neurodiverse customers, as well as a Travel Support Card for people who need assistance but find it hard to ask for help.

Govia Thameslink Railway recently trialled the use of Aira Explorer, an app to help blind and partially sighted customers find their way around some of its railway stations

Thameslink's accessibility engagement manager Antony Merlyn, who wrote the guide with Dave’s input, said: “Dave has a unique insight into the challenges for blind or partially sighted travelling by train.

“We hope this audio guide gives people the added confidence to travel with us and regain their independence.”

More audio guides are set to follow. Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs Southern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern trains as well as those by Thameslink, has made a grant available to national sight loss charity Thomas Pocklington Trust to create audio guides for a further three train types as well as to trial audio guides of six stations – Eastbourne, Brighton, Sutton, Blackfriars, Stevenage and Luton Airport Parkway.