4
Not a great arrival, but got back on track
My arrival at Sheffield train station made me quite anxious as no one from the team was there to meet me and they had to be notified by a member of the public. They were then also unable to locate a ramp so I could get off the train. The staff did make sure I was taken care of and when I returned to the station for my journey home, I had a much better experience.
Like I always do, I had pre-booked my assistance for this train journey via the Passenger Assistance app. This usually means that a member of staff is waiting at my destination with a ramp or is on their way with one. When I arrived, I became nervous when there weren’t any staff to be seen on the platform. A lovely lady, who was trying to board the train for its onward journey, asked if I needed help and went to notify a member of staff that I was waiting.
A member of staff then arrived, and let me know that all of the platform ramps in the station had been moved elsewhere for maintenance, so there were none available on the platform to get me off. To my understanding, all trains have an onboard ramp as well. However, the staff member was unsure where to locate it and once it had been located, it must have been faulty as they were unable to use it. At this point, another staff member went to locate where the platform ramps had been taken and brought one to get me off. It was a very nerve-wracking experience as the train was shortly due to leave the station again. There wasn’t much communication from staff about what was happening. For example, I would have appreciated someone letting me know if the train was going to be held until I was able to get off.
My experience when I was returning home was better though. I met a member of the station staff by the main information desks who let me know which platform my train would be boarding at. As we were quite early, we were given the option to follow the staff member over to the platform now or to meet them at the platform later. We opted to meet them later on as this gave us an opportunity to get any drinks and snacks we wanted and use the toilets before our train.
The main station building was really nice, it had a good selection of shops and food options and had lots of natural light. There were lots of information desks available and a digital board providing BSL translated information. There was even a tactile map of the whole station which I thought was absolutely incredible!
My arrival at Sheffield train station made me quite anxious as no one from the team was there to meet me and they had to be notified by a member of the public. They were then also unable to locate a ramp so I could get off the train. The staff did make sure I was taken care of and when I returned to the station for my journey home, I had a much better experience.
Like I always do, I had pre-booked my assistance for this train journey via the Passenger Assistance app. This usually means that a member of staff is waiting at my destination with a ramp or is on their way with one. When I arrived, I became nervous when there weren’t any staff to be seen on the platform. A lovely lady, who was trying to board the train for its onward journey, asked if I needed help and went to notify a member of staff that I was waiting.
A member of staff then arrived, and let me know that all of the platform ramps in the station had been moved elsewhere for maintenance, so there were none available on the platform to get me off. To my understanding, all trains have an onboard ramp as well. However, the staff member was unsure where to locate it and once it had been located, it must have been faulty as they were unable to use it. At this point, another staff member went to locate where the platform ramps had been taken and brought one to get me off. It was a very nerve-wracking experience as the train was shortly due to leave the station again. There wasn’t much communication from staff about what was happening. For example, I would have appreciated someone letting me know if the train was going to be held until I was able to get off.
My experience when I was returning home was better though. I met a member of the station staff by the main information desks who let me know which platform my train would be boarding at. As we were quite early, we were given the option to follow the staff member over to the platform now or to meet them at the platform later. We opted to meet them later on as this gave us an opportunity to get any drinks and snacks we wanted and use the toilets before our train.
The main station building was really nice, it had a good selection of shops and food options and had lots of natural light. There were lots of information desks available and a digital board providing BSL translated information. There was even a tactile map of the whole station which I thought was absolutely incredible!
