From my North Norfolk News column of 17 December 2007. Lightly edited from my original copy; their names have been withheld and an unrelated local-politics passage omitted.
Whilst we continue to moan about our public transport and the train service we have in north Norfolk, spare a thought for people who face even greater difficulties getting around because of inaccessible services.
Last week I had an email from a concerned grandmother whose grandson lives in Cromer. He was 18, attended City College in Norwich and, much like the rest of us, relied on public transport to get there. But he uses a wheelchair, and so the transport woes we all face each day are nothing compared to the problems he faces.
Now surely this would mean he has priority when travelling on the train? Unfortunately not, because whilst our train operator is pouring money into renaming themselves and spending money on repainting trains, he is treated like a second-class citizen. Somebody has to call the train operator at least 24 hours beforehand to let them know he’ll be using the train so they can ensure the support is there for him to allow him to board.
As for the buses, they’re not that much better. The bus company that operates frequently in the city only has high-step buses making wheelchairs a struggle, and one of the regular bus companies here in north Norfolk only has three low-step vehicles. Again, this means there needs to be someone around to give him assistance to travel.
Now, much like any other college student, he wants to be part of after-school clubs and take part in extra activities available for his drama course. This means more problems for transport. The council cannot allow him a later taxi because there are strict rules on what time he can travel, and on top of that he is already paying fifteen pounds a month for his daily taxi.
He cannot be alone in this, and there must be many teenagers and adults who go through these problems with our public transport. It seems ludicrous for anybody with a disability to be charged to travel by taxi when our public transport is failing them. Whilst my continuous travel moans can be resolved with a simple “get a car!” response, these ones cannot. Let’s hope the transport companies wake up and do something about this.