A West Lothian woman with sight loss is calling on the Scottish Parliament to back free rail travel for blind and partially sighted and their companions.
Amanda Whitfield is backing the Fair Rail campaign by Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans.
The call for a new national policy comes as Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans have been contacted by people with sight loss who are concerned about the inconsistency across Scotland around rail travel concessions for their companions.
Feedback found public information about concessionary schemes and companion discounts is misleading and is causing confusion to both passengers and rail staff.
Amanda, from Whitburn, suffers from sight loss due to a condition called Stargardt disease.
She said: “I go everywhere by bus only because of the free companion travel – that’s the reason I use the bus over the train, because of the concessionary rate for whoever is with me.
“I’d rather take the train as the bus can be so unreliable, especially in the darker nights, which reduces what vision I do have even more.
“I’d take the train more if I could, but with the cost of living it’s too expensive to always pay the fare for my companion and I can’t expect my sister or whoever is with me to pick up the cost.
“The train has better facilities too, for example access to a toilet, which makes life much easier when I’ve got my wee girl with me. There is also more space on the train as I’m not always able to get on the bus with my buggy if a wheelchair user is already on. If we could get free companion travel on the trains like what we have on the bus, it would make life so much easier.”
Freedom of information requests made by the charity revealed that while most local authorities and SPT offer free or discounted rail travel for the companions of blind or partially sighted people, only seven said they offered a discount to companions, and none offered free companion travel.
Craig Spalding, chief executive of Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, said: “We are urging MSPs to back our Fair Rail Campaign when it is debated in Parliament. For most people living with a visual impairment, public transport is the only means they have to make journeys around the country. Driving a car is no longer, or indeed has never been, an option so local transport networks and Scotland’s rail network play a crucial part in enabling independence in the community.
“Unfortunately for many blind and partially sighted people travelling without a companion is just not an option, and the costs to pay fares is too much. This is a great opportunity to create a rail network in Scotland which is inclusive and meets the needs of everyone in society.”
Graham Simpson MSP, Shadow Minister for Transport, said a lack of national policy for free rail travel for companions of blind and partially sighted people is “causing anguish for passengers and rail staff”.
He continued: “It’s clear to me that having a companion can ultimately make the difference of someone being able to make a journey or not at all. I thank Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans for bringing this important issue to my attention and I will be urging members to back the calls for a national policy to take steps towards a more equitable and accessible rail network across Scotland for everyone who uses it.”
Sight Scotland has also recently launched its Braille Labelling campaign demanding that new requirements are placed on retailers to provide braille labelling on food products.
Currently, braille labelling is only required for medicines, meaning braille users are not able to identify the food products they wish to purchase and use. The charity is calling for a statutory duty to be placed on businesses and retailers to provide braille labels on food products detailing the name of the item and the use by/sell by dates.
A petition has been published by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee at the Scottish Parliament and so far has gathered over 500 signatures. You can sign the petition here: https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE1997
To find out more about the campaign and how to get involved, go to sightscotland.org.uk/FairRail.
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