The West Somerset Railway welcomes passengers who have a disability and any accompanying assistance dogs. We are working hard to improve our accessibility and already have three accessible coaches available to us. We intend to have an accessible coach on all of our standard service trains. There is no need to pre-book but please contact us if you are travelling as part of a group who have more than 3 wheelchairs, let us know which services you intend to travel on so that we can we have sufficient accessibility on your chosen services.
If your mobility is limited, most of the stations along the West Somerset Railway are accessible to you. The exception to this is Doniford Halt which has no car parking and two access points, which are both uneven-gravel surfaces.
Please arrive with at least 25 minutes to spare for boarding. Restrict your speed to 2 mph for the safety of both yourself and other passengers. Please keep away from the platform edge until you are boarding a train. Please be aware, some platform edges slope towards the track for drainage purposes and therefore extra care will need to be taken.
| Station |
Loan Wheelchairs Available |
Access to Platform | Accessible | Platform | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toilets | Cafe | Shop | ||||
| Bishops Lydeard | yes | shallow ramps | RADAR | yes | yes | easy access |
| Crowcombe Heathfield | no | level | yes | no | n/a | grassed area |
| Stogumber | no | steep ramp | yes | yes | n/a | narrow |
| Williton | no | shallow ramps | no | no | no | narrow |
| Doniford Halt | no | none | n/a | n/a | n/a | very difficult access |
| Watchet | yes | level | yes | n/a | n/a | easy access |
| Washford | no | steep ramp | no | no | no | grassed area |
| Blue Anchor | no | shallow ramps | no | no | no | narrow |
| Dunster | no | level | no | no | n/a | grassed area |
| Minehead | yes | level | RADAR | yes | yes | easy acces |
Carer Tickets
We value our passengers and want to ensure that everyone has a wonderful day out with us. Therefore, passengers with accessible needs who require carers to travel with them, are entitled to free carer tickets.
You can reserve your free carer tickets online when purchasing your tickets for travel or from the booking office on the day, please note we have a limited number of accessible spaces on our services for wheelchair passengers.
When you arrive for your days travel, please ensure you have one of the following with you, this will need to be shown to the travelling ticket inspector along with your ticket on board the train, or at the booking office when buying your tickets on the day.
- Entitlement to Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independent Payments PIP either by way of a letter or allowance book.
- Attendance allowance or carers allowance letter of award.
- Incapacity Benefit Books, or letter notifying the recipient that the benefit has been awarded incapacity benefit, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Disability Student Allowance (DSA), or DID card (UK Disabled Card)
- A valid blue badge
- In the case of visual impairment, a registration card known as the BD8 or a certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI)
- Credibility Access Card with the carer companion symbol.
- An international equivalent to the above.
- A National Carer's Card
- Disabled Persons Railcard (Network Rail)
Failure to supply one of the above on board the train will result in the carer being charged the full on the day fare.
If you have any questions about an item that you can supply or would like help to purchase your tickets please contact the office on 01643 704996 or email [email protected] where one of the team will be able to help.
The Trains
Most of our trains are accessible for an individual with a disability. You can move between the carriages (including to the buffet car) on the level. However, the somewhat narrow connecting doors of our heritage carriages will prevent you from doing so in a wheelchair or scooter. If you can step aboard and move to a seat, a small number of our carriages have a space (at one end) in which your folded wheelchair may be carried.
Our standard services typically have an accessible carriage, which is situtated next to the gaurds van, in this carriage there is space for 4 non-transferable wheelchair passengers to sit with an accompaining passenger. When making a group booking, please make us aware of your wheelchair requirements. As previously stated, wheelchairs and scooters that carry passengers who can transfer to a standard seat may be placed in the Guards Van until the passenger is disembarking.
Passengers can also travel in the guards van where space is limited, there are windows in this space as well as non-slip flooring.
Please note, our DMU services have more limited spaces for wheelchairs and scooters, as the guards van is smaller.
Size Restrictions
Most WSR services can carry manual or powered wheelchairs (and mobility scooters), folded if necessary, up to the following limitations for safety reasons:
- Width: 700 millimetres (27 inches)
- Length (including footplates): 1200 millimetres (47 inches)
- Weight including passenger: 230kg (36 stone), the safe limit of our ramps.
Boarding the Train
It is your responsibility to load your wheelchair or scooter on and off the train and we ask you or your travelling companion to ensure that the scooter is folded ready for boarding prior to the train's arrival. If you require help, please do not hesitate to ask. We do ask all electric scooters and wheelchairs speed are turned to a minimum to prevent accidents whilst boarding.
If your scooter or wheelchair is oversize, we have a small number of (ordinary, standard size) wheelchairs available for loan at Bishops Lydeard, Watchet and Minehead for your use whilst you are on the railway.
If your wheelchair is oversize for medical reasons (but not overweight), please contact us in advance of travel (details below) and we may be able to issue a permit to travel for your wheelchair.
Please ask for assistance if it would help. We are here to ensure you enjoy your day!
ADDRESS
West Somerset Railway,The Railway Station,
Minehead Somerset,
TA24 5BG
