While a draft law on accessible tourism is under discussion in Italy and in conjunction with the protest of the European Disability Forum (EDF) on the inefficiency of air transport for people with disabilities, the European Union Regulation came into force in recent weeks on the rights and obligations of passengers in rail transport (EU Regulation 2021/782).
The Regulation updates the previous legislation of 2007 (EC Regulation No. 1371/2007), applies to international or national rail journeys throughout the European Union and regulates the rights and obligations of passengers in rail transport. These indications are valid for all passengers, the general intention is in fact to guarantee greater assistance to passengers in the event of interruption of the journey. However, a particular attention towards the most vulnerable male and female travelers, such as people with disabilities or reduced mobility, emerges in a very clear way.
In Italy, the body responsible for monitoring compliance and application of EC Regulation 1371/2007 and EU Regulation 2021/782 is the ART – Transport Regulation Authority. On the Authority’s website there is a useful section dedicated to all the relevant legislation (not yet updated to the most recent approved Regulation) and the complete and detailed electronic procedure for sending complaints.
In the light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – as already stated in the introduction 27 of the Regulation – and in order to offer disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility opportunities to travel by train similar to those enjoyed by other citizens, rules on non-discrimination and assistance during travel should be established. Persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility have the same rights as all other citizens to free movement and non-discrimination. Among other things, particular attention should be paid to providing disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility with information concerning the accessibility of railway services, the conditions of access to rolling stock and the services offered on board. To ensure passengers with sensory impairments optimal information about delays, visual and acoustic systems should be used, as appropriate. Persons with disabilities should be able to purchase their ticket on board without a surcharge where there is no accessible means of purchasing their ticket before boarding the train. However, there should be the possibility to limit this right in circumstances relating to security reasons or the obligation to book. Staff should be adequately trained to respond to the needs of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, particularly in the provision of assistance. To ensure equal travel conditions, such persons should be provided with assistance in stations and on board or, in the absence of trained accompanying staff on board a train and at the station, all reasonable efforts should be made to grant access to rail travel .
The reference to fragile subjects occurs, sometimes implicitly and sometimes explicitly, right from the first article, which establishes rules such as “non-discrimination between passengers as regards the conditions of transport and the issue of tickets” (letter a), “minimum and accurate information, including on ticketing, to be provided to passengers in an accessible format and in a timely manner” (letter e) and “non-discrimination against disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility and assistance to the same” (letter f).
The entire Chapter V of the Regulation is then dedicated to persons with disabilities and/or reduced mobility, which governs the “right to transport” (art. 21) and the right to receive “information for persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility” (art. 22), the methods of “assistance in railway stations and on board” (art. 23) and the “conditions under which assistance is provided” (art. 24).
To people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility – reads the art. 23 – the following assistance is provided:
– personal assistant, recognized as such in accordance with national practices, who can travel at a special rate or free of charge (particularly if the railway undertaking requests the presence of an escort);
– assistance dog, in accordance with the relevant national law;
– in the case of unstaffed trains, station managers or railway undertakings provide free assistance during boarding and alighting from the train, if trained personnel are in service at the station;
– in the event of departure from, transit through or arrival at a staffed railway station, the station manager or the railway undertaking shall provide the person concerned free of charge with the necessary assistance in boarding, transferring or alighting from the train, provided he is able trained personal service;
– in the case of unstaffed stations, the railway undertakings provide free assistance on board the train and during boarding and alighting from the train, if trained staff are present on the latter;
– in the absence of trained accompanying staff on board a train and in a station, station managers or railway undertakings make all reasonable efforts to enable disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility to have access to rail transport;
– railway undertakings make all reasonable efforts to provide disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility with access to the same on-board services offered to other passengers, when the persons concerned cannot access these services independently and safely.
The assistance – prescribed by the art. 24 – is provided on condition that the type of assistance required is notified at least 24 hours in advance to the railway undertaking, station manager, ticket seller or tour operator from which the ticket was purchased or to the one-stop shop.
Furthermore, the modalities of “compensation for mobility equipment, assistance devices and assistance dogs” (art. 25) and the training obligation for all personnel (art. 26) are clearly established.
If the railway undertakings and station managers – establishes the art. 25 – cause loss or damage to mobility equipment, including wheelchairs and assistive devices, or cause loss or injury to assistance dogs used by disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, they are responsible for such loss, damage, or injury, and pay compensation including: a) the cost of replacing or repairing the lost or damaged mobility equipment or assistive devices; b) the cost of replacing or treating the injury of the lost or injured assistance dog; c) the reasonable costs of temporary replacement of mobility equipment, assistive devices, or assistance dogs where such replacement is not provided by the railway undertaking or station manager.
(Rare Disease Observatory of 06/27/2023, Alessandra Babetto)
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