The UIC PASSAGE Project:
Exploring best-practice solutions for international rail travel for elderly and disabled people

Dirk Oelschläger

Senior Advisor Passenger Transport

International Union of Railways (UIC)

16, rue Jean Rey • 75015 PARIS • FRANCE

Fon +33144492072 • Fax +33144492079 • e-mail:

* * *

David Sindall

Head of Disability Inclusion

Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC)

3rd Floor • 40 Bernard Street • LONDON WC1N 1BY • UNITED KINGDOM

Fon +442078418104 • e-mail:

1.Purpose of the Project

The PASSAGE[1]objectives are

–To create and safeguard professional exchange among the railways related to concrete measures aimed at improving accessibility for persons with reduced mobility (PRM);

–To make transparent practical solutions how to response to a given problem in a most cost-effective manner and so to provide an impulse and incentive for those members who are still at the very beginning of creating accessibility for PRM;

–To address the interface between the requirements of legal stipulations and the practical management and delivery of rails services to older and disabled passengers;

–To learn from practice other transport industries and evaluate the extent to which their solutions may be appropriate for Railway Undertakings

–To regard PRM as a target group of commercial interest

Our paper will focus upon the outcomes and the challenges of the project, the challenges that have been overcome and our plans for the future

2.Approach / Methodology

Railways in Europe are today still affected by their isolated history, which provided themwith a variety of platform heights.From a European perspective, these represent major obstacles for a barrier-free design of the platform-train interface. Moreover, also on national networks, accessibility may still be an issue for a large number of stations.

Although several initiatives to overcome this problem through the “universal design” approach exist on selected lines or regional networks, the problemgenerally persists at larger stations (where a variety of different types of trainsare calling) and for international traffic, as platform heights may vary considerably between national railway systems.

Thus, where “universal design”, i.e. barrier-free access to trains, cannot that easily be implemented, the provision of assistance for persons with disabilities plays a key role for “bridging the gap” in the literal sense.

The PASSAGE projects aims at identifying best practice solutions for assistance provision and its coordination for international rail travel. For this purpose, it is carrying out questionnaires, on-site visits and monitors the development of a “PRM Assistance Booking Tool” and its underlying message standards.

3.Results / expected results

–An understanding amongst railway undertakings and stakeholders of the key chal-lenges created across UIC members by European Passenger Rights legislation.

–An evaluation of existing services and the size of the problem as regards to the numbers of PRM travellers:

  • Which services exist, and what are the conditions of their use?
  • How many travellers request assistance? What is their share compared to all travellers?
  • What are the investment costs for services specially designed for PRM?

–An evaluation of measures that may yet need to be undertaken in order to comply with legal requirements.

–A joint communication of common understanding with key representatives of disability organisations

4.Conclusion

PASSAGE has only started in mid-2010;since the projects inception we have seen positive progress around sharing practices, establishing a dialogue on the business benefits and costs associated with delivering services to PRMs and agreeing common work programmes to further enhance mutual understanding of this important market segment. By the time of TRANSED we will be able to present further evidence of the projects success and positive influence upon European Railway Undertakings.

5.One topic code

B. (Best practices and innovations) or

J. (Others)

Word count (chapters 1 to 4, content only): 516

[1]Passenger Accessibility Solutions Support and Action Group of Experts