IS TRAIN TRAVEL A WHEELCHAIR-FRIENDLY

ALTERNATIVE TO FLYING OR DRIVING?

Vanessa O’Connell is an MDA Ambassador in the Orlando area who lives with Pompe disease. 

She travels twice a year on Amtrak’s Floridian from Winter Park, Florida, to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, to visit family and see specialists at Duke University.

Although a nonstop flight from Orlando to Raleigh-Durham would take less than two hours, Vanessa swears by the overnight, 13-hour Amtrak trip.

“I used to drive it before my diagnosis. Since then, I take the train,” Vanessa says.

“I have a breathing disorder, and my physician says the train’s air is much better than the air on a plane. 

The station in Raleigh-Durham has excellent access.

The one in Winter Park is a quaint little whistle stop, but I can make do with the access.”

IS TRAIN TRAVEL A WHEELCHAIR-FRIENDLY

ALTERNATIVE TO FLYING OR DRIVING?

Mindy Henderson, MDA’s Vice President of Disability Outreach and Empowerment and Editor-in-Chief of Quest Media, rode on the Texas Eagle, which has bilevel Superliner cars.

She says the aisles were too narrow to maneuver her power wheelchair easily.

There were tie-down restraints to secure her wheelchair; however, the Red Caps (Amtrak attendants) didn’t offer to help, so her personal care attendant (PCA) did the work.

The dining area was up steps with no ramp or lift, so her PCA also did the food run.

Overall, Mindy rated the experience higher than flying, but because of significant delays during her train trip to Dallas, she would prefer driving in an accessible van to taking the train for a journey of that length.

CITIES THAT DON’T TOW CARS PARKED OVER SIDEWALKS

ARE DISRCIMINATING AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Illegal car parking destroys pedestrian safety and forces people with disabilities into Miami’s dangerous street traffic. 

Perpetually 2 or 3 cars park on NE 9 St @ Marina Blue mixed use tower.

Miami has a Downton Development Authority that has a quality of life team in the streets each day.

I wonder if they have any training on ADA accessibility.

I fear they do not spend one day out of 365 trying to make mobility better for people with disabilities in the city center.

IS TRAIN TRAVEL A WHEELCHAIR-FRIENDLY

ALTERNATIVE TO FLYING OR DRIVING?

Mindy Henderson, MDA’s Vice President of Disability Outreach and Empowerment and Editor-in-Chief of Quest Media, who lives with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), recently took her first Amtrak ride. 

She described the five-hour trip from her home in Austin, Texas, to Dallas as a “mixed bag.”

“Getting on the train was dreamy compared to air travel. 

I could stay in my chair, and I didn’t have to worry about being lifted or dropped,” she says.

“The portable ramp from the platform to the train was a bit steep, but the staff were good about standing behind me so I didn’t flip.”

IS TRAIN TRAVEL A WHEELCHAIR-FRIENDLY

ALTERNATIVE TO FLYING OR DRIVING?

Dr. Christopher Rosa praises the new Acela cars for wider aisles, more integrated accessible seating, and better shock absorbers for a smooth ride.

“From my home in Queens, I can take an accessible bus to the Long Island Railroad to the Amtrak station. From there, I can get to DC, Boston, and Philly,” he says.

“For most of my life, I couldn’t take trips independently.

I can’t tell you how liberating it is to be totally independent.”

While the heavily traveled Northeast corridor has many modern, accessible train cars, experiences on trains can vary in other regions.

 

IS TRAIN TRAVEL A WHEELCHAIR-FRIENDLY

ALTERNATIVE TO FLYING OR DRIVING?

Christopher Rosa, PhD, President and CEO of the Viscardi Center in New York, lives with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) and often travels by train.

“Trains, in general, are more accessible than air travel,” Dr. Rosa says. 

“Amtrak is still a work in progress, with some of the 30- to 40-year-old trains requiring a sharp turn while boarding and aisles too narrow to access the dining car, but I find accessibility in the Northeast corridor is trending in a more inclusive direction. 

Newer cars have design features that make them generally more accessible to passengers with disabilities.”

IS TRAIN TRAVEL A WHEELCHAIR-FRIENDLY

ALTERNATIVE TO FLYING OR DRIVING?

“I’ve used the accessible bedroom cars on the Auto Train,” David Capozzi says, describing a special Amtrak train that transports passengers and their vehicles nonstop from Washington, DC, to Orlando. 

“They take my wheelchair van onto the train, offload it, and I have it in Florida without having to drive 810 miles one way,” he says.