On June 2023 the new Rail Passenger Rights Regulation entered into force – repealing the one in place since 2007. The European Disability Forum is organising a webinar to explain the main changes introduced by the revised regulation and how these will affect persons with disabilities.
Traditionally, passengers with disabilities face numerous barriers each time they want to take a train:
- A wheelchair user who can’t board the train independently because the vehicle is not accessible,
- A hearing-impaired person who can’t receive the latest information when a disruption occurs because it is provided only through the train loudspeakers
- a visually impaired passenger who experiences problems because the assistance dog is not allowed on board or is obliged to travel with an accompanying person.
To address these and other situations, the European Union adopted the Rail Passenger Regulation, which, apart from giving certain rights to all passengers – such as compensation in case of delay and cancellation – also confers specific rights to passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility. Some of these rights include non-discriminatory access to transport services, assistance free of charge and accessible information.
During this webinar, some of the topics that we will cover are:
- The main Rail Passenger Rights for Persons with disabilities
- The Train Services covered by Rail Passenger Rights
- The main novelties of the Revised Regulation
- The enforcement of Rail Passenger Rights
- The challenges in the enforcement of Rail Passenger Rights
During this training, we also want to hear from your experience in this field, especially when it comes to the challenges that you expect from its implementation, the areas of improvement and the opportunities.
This event will provide International sign interpretation and real-time captioning in English.
Moderator:
Marie Denninghaus – Senior Policy Coordinator (EDF)
Speakers:
Andras Mogyoro – Legal Officer (European Commission)
Tommy Zonnekein – Accessibility Programme Manager (SNCB)
Daniel Casas – Accessibility Policy Officer (EDF)
Agenda:
10.00 – 10.10h Marie Denninghaus – Opening and housekeeping rules
10.10 – 10.25h Andras Mogyoro – Introduction to the Revised Regulation
10.25 – 10.40h Tommy Zonnekein – SNCB experience
10.40 – 10.55h Daniel Casas – Person’s with disability perspective
10.55 – 11.05h Coffee Break
11.05 – 11.25h Q&A
11.25h – 11.30h Marie Denninghaus – Conclusions