Rights of rail passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility
If your mobility is reduced for example as a result of old age or disability, you are entitled to special assistance free of charge at railway stations and on board a train. The best way to ensure you will get the help you need is to inform the relevant operator of your needs in advance. Learn more about special assistance and your rights in different situations.
You are entitled to assistance free of charge on board a train and when you are boarding and disembarking from a train. You can also get assistance at railway stations before and after your journey. Assistance is provided by railway undertakings or station managers.
Assistance is provided by the railway undertaking or station manager when there is trained staff on duty on board the train or at the station.
The best way to ensure you will get the help you need is to notify your needs in advance. Special assistance and notifying your need for assistance are always free of charge.
Who is entitled to assistance?
Different disabilities may make it difficult to use transport services. Not every disability is visible to the eye.
ASSISTANCE IS PROVIDED TO PERSONS WITH PERMANENTLY OR TEMPORARILY REDUCED MOBILITY
Assistance can be provided, for example, to elderly passengers, persons using a wheelchair or persons with hearing or visual impairments.
Assistance is also provided to disabled persons and, for example, persons with autism spectrum disorders or memory disorders.
Notify your need for assistance in advance
We recommend that you bring up your need for assistance already when you book your journey. That way you can ensure you get the help you need.
Inform the railway undertaking, ticket vendor, tour operator or station manager of your need for assistance.
You can provide the details of your special needs in the booking system. Sometimes you may need to give the information by telephone or by filling in a separate online form, for example.
NOTIFY YOUR NEED FOR ASSISTANCE AT THE LATEST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE JOURNEY
Notify your need for assistance when you book your journey or at the latest 24 hours before the journey.
If you have not made an advance notification of your need for assistance, the railway undertaking and station manager must make all reasonable efforts so that you may travel. However, it may be that not all your requests can be fulfilled.
Access on board a train may not be denied because of reduced mobility, unless this is necessary to comply with the railway undertaking’s rules for transport. The railway undertaking must publish these rules on its website.
Upon request, you are also entitled to information on the availability and access conditions of rail services and the grounds of these rules from the railway undertaking, ticket vendor or tour operator.
Assess your real need for assistance
No medical certificate or other document is required to receive assistance. You must assess the type of assistance you will need during the journey. When you notify your need for assistance, please be as specific as possible.
If you have a recognised personal assistant, the assistant may travel with a special tariff and, if applicable, free of charge. In some cases, the railway undertaking may also require that you are accompanied on board the train by another person who can help you during your journey. Please check any further information about travelling with a personal assistant or accompanying person on the website of the railway undertaking.
These rights are applied in long-distance passenger rail services and commuter rail services. The rights do not apply to rail services offered for historic use, such as seasonal transport on museum equipment.
How to request special assistance
Notify your need for assistance in advance
Notify the railway undertaking, ticket vendor or tour operator of your need for assistance when you book your journey or at the latest 24 hours before the journey.
When you describe the help you need, be as specific as possible.
Tell what assistive devices you need
Remember to mention the mobility equipment you need, such as a wheelchair, assistance dog or respiratory and oxygen equipment.
Request written confirmation
Request written confirmation of the assistance.
Contact an assistant at an assistance call point
Contact an assistant at an assistance call point by the time indicated by the railway undertaking. Check the time and the location of the point from the railway undertaking’s website.
Learn more about your rights in different situations
Rail travel elsewhere in Europe
When travelling by train in other EU countries, please check your rights on the website of the railway undertaking in question.
Different EU countries may apply certain restrictions on the scope of application of the regulation, e.g. in urban, suburban and regional rail passenger services and in rail passenger services of which a part is operated outside the EU.
Please note that these rail passenger rights do not apply to rail services between Finland and Russia.
MAKE A COMPLAINT: RIGHTS OF RAIL PASSENGERS WITH DISABILITIES OR REDUCED MOBILITY
If your rights have not been respected in connection with a rail journey, you can make a complaint. In the event of a problem, always contact first the railway undertaking.
A complaint must be submitted within three months of the incident that it concerns.
If necessary, you can also contact the authority overseeing passenger rights. In Finland, the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility in bus and coach transport are supervised by Traficom.