Mind the gap / Uwaga na przerwę

Accessibility is important these days, particularly with regard to public buildings and services. To find a town hall or school without hand rails for the inform, Braille pads for the blind or wheelchair ramps for the disabled is almost impossible thanks to the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act that (and I paraphrase here) said these bodies have a duty to provide for a disabled person’s need. In addition, companies not covered by the act, such as bus and train operators, were given a deadline to make sure wheelchair users and other disabled people could use services normally.

That’s the UK. Abroad, it’s different, natch. So it was with a general sense of disbelief that we witnessed the logic of Kraków’s transport strategy to get people from Balice airport into the main railway station. The powers that be have invested in several brand new trains, smartly painted in red, white and yellow and spotless inside, with staff verging on the polite. When you get off the plane you take a bus to the station (ok, so they didn’t really understand the meaning of ‘integrated transport strategy’) and after a few minutes this sleek, polished train glides in, the doors swish open and passengers board. Twenty minutes later you arrive at Kraków Główny station. No problems there you think. But wait, what’s this? The doors open and…
A gap, and (wait for it)...
A step up.
Someone somewhere needs a good hard kick up the arse. I mean a really good hard kick. Or better still, put them in a wheelchair and get them to try and get in or out of the train at this station. It is hard enough trying to lift a heavy suitcase in and the lady with the pushchair had to unceremoniously throw the whole thing out, to the obvious distress of the child.

So who is responsible? In Poland everyone blames everyone else, but it is obvious that somewhere along the line someone didn’t think that train and platform have to be compatible. One solution would have been to build a new, lower, platform but that costs money. The official response? We didn’t ask but I would guess if you complained they would shrug, and then order you a taxi.