Easy boarding and comfortable travel
4
4
Date of visit: November 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: a hidden impairment and moving around.
I use or have experience of: hidden impairment, powerchair, walking aid, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Good
I used the LNER Azuma train to go from Edinburgh to Darlington and back. It was a smooth travel experience, both thanks to the staff in the stations and on board and the layout of the train itself. There is a socket next to the emergency call button in each wheelchair space and another socket between the companion seats. I did not make use of the service, but there are stickers with QR codes under the window that tell you about the option to order food and drink right to your seat and access live journey updates.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
The Azuma model has 2 wheelchair spaces with two associated companion seats in carriage A. They both point in the same direction, with the companion seats facing the opposite direction. There is a table between the wheelchair space and the companion seats and the half on the side of the wheelchair space can be lifted up and folded away. I especially appreciated that the automatic sliding doors led into the compartment right from the entry space and I did not have to navigate any narrow corridors to get to the wheelchair space. The door into the train is operated with buttons to the left of it and is one big step up, so you will need a ramp for step-free access. There are vertical grab rails on both sides of the door, set into the wall just inside of the train. The corridor next to the bathroom has a horizontal handrail on one side and a vertical one a bit further along.
Accessible facilities: Single-level venue, Seating at regular intervals
Accessible Toilets
To be honest, I think train toilets will always fall short of being broadly accessible as long as they are restricted in size. I can get into them in my powerchair, but there would be no space for a carer and there is barely any space to move around in the chair. Considering these constrictions, I found that the bathroom on this train was among the better ones, being clean and laid out clearly. There is a designated accessible bathroom on the LNER Azuma right next to the door that you board through. There is a curved sliding door with man, woman, changing table and wheelchair symbols. There are two bright yellow buttons to the left of the door to operate it: the top one to open and the bottom one to close, both with raised arrow symbols. There is a sticker above with white on dark blue writing and Braille pointing out the buttons. As you enter, there is first a full-length mirror on the wall to your left and then the interface to close and lock the door. There are white on blue labels with Braille above two buttons and a lever between them. The buttons have raised arrow symbols and the relevant button lights up. The button on the left is to open and the button on the right is to close. When the lever is in the position to the left, the door is unlocked and the light below is green. To lock it, move the lever to the right and the light will turn red. The sink is set into the back wall of the small bathroom. It has a mirror above with labels at the bottom letting you know where the water, soap and dryer are behind/below the mirror. There is a bin for hand towels set into the right side of the sink. The toilet is on the wall to your right as you enter, right next to the sink. There is space for a right-side transfer. There is a moveable horizontal handrail to the left of the toilet and a fixed horizontal handrail set into the sink to the right of the toilet. The handrails are dark grey and the toilet seat and lid black, so they contrast with the white walls. The flush is a lit-up yellow button on the wall in the transfer space. The toilet paper dispenser is set into the middle bottom of the sink. There is a sanitary bin set into the wall opposite the toilet. There is a red emergency call button on the wall to the right of the sink and toilet and another one about a foot above the floor under the left side of the sink. The baby change is set into the wall above the toilet and can be folded down when needed.
