Which TOC would be considered as a "service provider" according to Equality Act 2010?

[Sweetjesus]

There is one particular journey I'm having issues with.

I use Freedom Pass that is valid for the journey I regularly make, I travel from a TFL station to Farringdon and then to London Bridge. Unfortunately, I often have been not let through the barrier to exit when I arrive at London Bridge. As result of this, I've had to use my bank card to let me through the barrier as I need to get to work on time.

The staff at London Bridge do not agree that my pass is valid before 9:30AM and the policy from the TOC who operates the barrier is that they are not willing to change the barrier settings on the account that Freedom Pass is not valid on most routes coming into London Bridge pre-9:30AM. They have stated they've trained the staff but this appears to be inadequate as I've had to pay £9.90 missing touch out fee after they claimed they've trained their own staff and I have been bothered by the staff there a few times since then.

I've mentioned this matter to the TOC who operates the barrier and I've received unsatisificationary replies (e.g. the most recent response from them told me to claim it from TfL despite TfL website currently doesn't do contactless refunds for now due to the cyberattack).

The issue is that, who would be liable in this instance? TfL who I first touched in at the barrier at a tube station? Or the TOC who gets me from Farringdon to London Bridge? Network Rail who manages London Bridge? Or is it the staff who operate the barrier at London Bridge?

I can't keep paying £9.90 missing touch out fee, my salary isn't high enough to cover it and nor do I want to risk getting sent a prosecution letter if a revenue staff gets to me either.

The reason why I'm considering EqA2010 is that my disability affects my ability to communicate with the staff and I believe that is a big factor why I am not let through - they've acknowledged this but has yet to provide a working solution.

 

[Snow1964]

The Freedom pass is actually issued by your local council.

If it is proving defective at allowing you to do a journey that the terms and conditions say is possible, then as provider, on paper at least, they have responsibility for their deficient product.

Any commercial relationships they hold with TfL or a rail company is not your responsibility, and if their product doesn't work, they really need to use those commercial relationships to find and implement a solution.

They probably will weasel out of it, and shrug their shoulders as nothing to do with them, but if you try an equalities Act claim, no idea where it will go.

 

[island]

The difficulty here is threefold:

1. Freedom passes are not a "product" or "service"; rather, they are evidence that the holder can access concessionary travel. They are not subject to consumer law.
2. Any putative claim under the Equality Act would need to show that you are being treated less favourably than a non-disabled person. But it seems to me that you are being treated less favourably than a non-freedom pass holder. Many disabilities don't qualify for a freedom pass, and others only qualify at the discretion of the issuing council.
3. Southeastern, who operate the gatelines at London Bridge lower level NR, are not providing you with a service within the meaning of the Equality Act, which makes it difficult to establish a claim.

Accordingly the best advice I can give you is to modify your travel so as to arrive at London Bridge on a London Underground service. You've not mentioned where your journey starts, but if you were (say) coming from Paddington, you might instead try taking the Bakerloo and Jubilee lines.

 

[miklcct]

Accordingly the best advice I can give you is to modify your travel so as to arrive at London Bridge on a London Underground service. You've not mentioned where your journey starts, but if you were (say) coming from Paddington, you might instead try taking the Bakerloo and Jubilee lines.

Sorry but that is just avoiding the problem, not dealing with the problem. (although it is possible to use Moorgate to travel to London Bridge using only TfL services)

 

[CyrusWuff]

The difficulty here is threefold:

1. Any putative claim under the Equality Act would need to show that you are being treated less favourably than a non-disabled person. But it seems to me that you are being treated less favourably than a non-freedom pass holder. Many disabilities don't qualify for a freedom pass, and others only qualify at the discretion of the issuing council.

Not necessarily even that. It's entirely plausible that the gates at London Bridge are setup to reject any off-peak ticket before 09:30, in which case the OP would be being treated in exactly the same way as anyone else holding an off-peak ticket.

Without being privy to Southeastern's gateline configuration, it's virtually impossible to say, however.

 

[Ralph Ayres]

You really shouldn't have to avoid travelling how you are entitled to, or have to claim refunds, because of poor staff training. The TOC's approach to the gate settings is reasonable, but only if their gateline staff deal correctly with the exceptions; in a previous life I was involved in (slightly reluctantly) agreeing to that arrangement, which was very much on the assumption that staff would be aware. You might try raising it with TfL and asking them in turn to get their Fares people to hassle the TOC. There certainly used to be regular liaison sessions between TfL, RDG and the TOCs about smartcard issues, whether Oyster or contactless.

Would a polite and friendly pre-prepared written/typed note to show at the gateline explaining where you have travelled from and mentioning that a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass is unusual in being valid at all times between Farringdon and London Bridge help with your communication issue? There is a map showing the various times and lines but they should be aware of that anyway.

 

[furlong]

Ask for a letter setting out the validity from West Hampstead to London Bridge/Elephant and Castle at all times and reminding employees how they should confirm this.
Then you can show that to their employees if you are challenged again.

 

[AlterEgo]

Ask for a letter setting out the validity from West Hampstead to London Bridge/Elephant and Castle at all times and reminding employees how they should confirm this;
Then you can show that to their employees if you are challenged again.

This is surely the best and most practical advice, agreed.

 

[furlong]

This is surely the best and most practical advice, agreed.

All they have to do is print out the page from the internal knowledge base on official stationery, highlight the relevant lines, and sign it.
If you always use the same gateline, they could even put a copy of it up there (like a lot of stations pin up notes to staff relating to local validity) so you can just point to that.

 

[40875704]

I think most of this has already been suggested but there is a bit more in it that you might want to include so I'll put it all in: ##Quite a complicated set of circumstances. The Equality Act makes a legal requirement that service providers make reasonable adjustments to allow a disabled person to access their services. Reasonable is a troublesome word. I suspect your conversation with gate line staff is similar each time. Would a potential aid be to have a prepared written note explaining the situation and including that you are a disabled person and the provider may not be meeting their legal obligations under The Equality Act? That may help to sharpen their focus.##

 

[Hadders]

This might be something that London Travelwatch could assist with.

 

[island]

I think most of this has already been suggested but there is a bit more in it that you might want to include so I'll put it all in: ##Quite a complicated set of circumstances. The Equality Act makes a legal requirement that service providers make reasonable adjustments to allow a disabled person to access their services. Reasonable is a troublesome word. I suspect your conversation with gate line staff is similar each time. Would a potential aid be to have a prepared written note explaining the situation and including that you are a disabled person and the provider may not be meeting their legal obligations under The Equality Act? That may help to sharpen their focus.##

As I said in post 3, where that runs into a problem is that the operator of the gateline at London Bridge, Southeastern, is not providing the OP with a service within the meaning of the Equality Act.

Worth mentioning nevertheless.