Designed with people in mind

Southeastern is on schedule to have its new high speed service fully operational by December 2009. The new service will reduce journey times and give customers an enhanced onboard experience. 

The uncluttered interior of the high speed trains (known as Class 395s) has been built with the needs of the everyday commuter in mind. There are seat back tables and sockets for laptops throughout the train. Southeastern state that these features will enable customers to catch up on emails, read the paper, or just snooze away their journeys to and from the office.

Disabled customers have also influenced the design of the train. During the development stages, Justin Ryan Southeastern's Accessibility & Inclusion manager (who has recently been awarded an MSc in Inclusive Design) formulated a group of disabled rail users to help refine the design of the interior of the Class 395 trains.

Justin said: “As a company we’re committed to seeking the views of disabled people whenever we're planning to improve our trains and stations. We not only consult with individual rail users but also with organisations such as the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee.“

Sue Groves, a wheelchair-user, was a member of the Class 395 advisory group and has since become a member of Southeastern’s stakeholder advisory board. During the consultation Sue highlighted the frustration many wheelchair users feel on trains that prevent them from travelling as part of a family group during rail journeys. “Being able to sit with my friends and family is something that everyone else enjoys so why can’t I?”

Train Operators are aware of this dilemma. It is created by the convergence of a number of design requirements that individually are intended to improve rail travel for wheelchair users, among which are:

• allowing sufficient space to accommodate the turning circle of wheelchairs to manoeuvre into the designated space
• giving access to a wheelchair accessible toilet
• providing a bulwark of a minimum width of 800mm to support the back of the wheelchair
• guaranteeing a prescribed minimum number of seats in a carriage
• working within the limitations of the size of the actual train carriage

In meeting these requirements some rail vehicles cannot then integrate the designated wheelchair space fully into the main seating area. This is not the case with the Class 395s.

“Thanks to our feedback,” Sue explained, “the Class 395s have plenty of tip-up seats near the wheelchair dedicated space so it’s more likely that people will be able to travel together with their friands and families. There’s plenty of room in the wheelchair area which makes manoeuvring much easier and it’s these types of features that make this train attractive to travel on.”

The Class 395s also have other accessibility features that are common to all new trains introduced on the national rail network. Passenger information screens and audio announcements keep customers informed on the journey. Staff will also play a vital role in helping disabled people get on and off of the train: on board managers are available to give assistance to customers. There are also accessible toilets, colour contrasting surfaces, tactile signage, and low-level passenger alarms.

If you would like to experince these trains before December then you can try out Southeastern’s high speed preview services which have been running since early August. These previews are due to be expanded to include Ramsgate, Canterbury West, Dover Priory, Folkestone Central and West from 7th September.

Charles Horton, Southeastern's Managing Director, said, “We want as many people as possible to be able to experience the service before the full timetable is introduced in December.”

For more details please see the High Speed pages on Southeastern’s website.

Where you can find Southeastern's high speed preview services
There will be two morning peak services from Ramsgate via Canterbury West and two peak services from Dover Priory via Folkestone Central and Folkestone West, returning in the evening peak. All the new services will also stop at Ashford International, resulting in an additional peak service on top of the current three trains to St Pancras International.

An off-peak return train is also being introduced between St Pancras International and Ashford International via Ebbsfleet. Trains from Ebbsfleet International will continue to have six morning peak services to St Pancras International and seven services back in the evening peak. Throughout the day, services run twice hourly between Ebbsfleet International and St Pancras International. All the services will continue to run Monday to Friday.

The new services will radically improve journey times, for example saving 49 minutes on the average commute from Ramsgate and 47 minutes from Dover. The full timetable service starts in December 2009.