Station facilities
We’re responsible for 164 stations on the rail network and we’ll continuously improve the facilities available at those stations. This includes, but isn’t limited to, lifts, ramps, escalators, accessible counters, induction loops at ticket counters and elsewhere, toilets and accessible toilets, waiting room and shelters, and accessible seating.
You can find information about these facilities and what is available on our station information pages by selecting your specific station. As well as at the National Rail website, where information on facilities for all Southeastern stations and those of other train operators is available.
At a staffed station
If you need assistance when you arrive at a station, please make yourself known to station staff where available. Staff will be available from the information point on the platform, or the ticket office or gateline (if there is one) at staffed stations. The meeting point for Passenger Assist at Southeastern stations will usually be the ticket office or the gateline. Our Passenger Assist Team will explain where you need to go when you book assistance.
We recommend you arrive at the station at least 20 minutes before your train leaves. Some stations may advise longer, but this will be explained when booking assistance. If you arrive by car or taxi, we can help you from the station car park drop-off area, or a blue badge parking space. We can’t help if you are outside the station area.
We can also carry a maximum of two items of luggage onto the train – up to 23kg each. Please book this in advance through our Passenger Assist team. You can also bring a small item with you free of charge if you’re able to carry it independently.
When the train arrives, we will make sure you are successfully boarded with any luggage that you may have, and help you get to a seat or to a wheelchair space. All staffed stations have portable ramps available on the platforms, or we’ll use one from the train (all of which have on board ramps available). We’ll deploy these for you if you need step-free boarding. If you think the ramp would make boarding easier for you, let the team know when booking assistance (or let a member of station staff know on the day as early as possible).
If arriving at a station by train, our staff will assist you from the train and to the exit of the station including bus stops or taxi ranks on the station forecourt for onward journey’s. They will also help you to your connecting train service if interchanging at the station or will take you to a member of the London Underground staff should you require their services.
At stations without any staff
The vast majority of our stations have staff for some part of the day, although some of our stations may be unstaffed, or only staffed when the ticket office is open.
When using one of these stations where there are no station staff available, if there are staff on the train, the Conductor or On Board Manager will provide assistance to you for getting on and off the train.
You can check staffing times of the station and whether help is available from on train staff on our station information page or by checking the station information poster.
If help is available from on board staff, our Conductors or On Board Managers can provide assistance when needing to board and alight a train, so please remain in a prominent position on the platform and attract the attention of the on board staff.
They will look out for customers on the platform who may require assistance and if you have booked they will have been notified and will be looking out for you. However they cannot assist you in getting to or from the car park, or with other assistance on the station due to the limited time that trains stop at stations.
Mobile Assist staff
We have introduced a team of roving staff who can be deployed to provide assistance to board our trains and to help at our stations when stations are unstaffed. They are based at key locations throughout our network. The team provides assistance whether it has been booked or not, however, to reduce waiting times we advise you to arrange your assistance in advance.
If you’re boarding a train at a station which is unstaffed and there are also no staff on the train to provide assistance, by booking in advance we can send someone to the station, like one of the mobile assist staff mentioned above, to assist you or arrange for a taxi to take you to the nearest staffed station to continue your journey. The available options will be discussed and confirmed with you when booking.
If you haven’t booked and the station or train doesn’t have staff who can assist you, you can get in contact with us by calling our Passenger Assist Team on 0800 783 4524 or use the help points located at all of our stations and appropriate assistance will be arranged.
Our train control centre now have dedicated management staff available 24/7 who coordinate our mobile assist team and liaise directly with our customer call centre to ensure that we can meet short notice requests for assistance whether booked or not , although there will likely be a delay for unbooked assists as we need time to arrange staff to attend.
If using the Help Points , there are two different buttons. One will always say ‘information’ and should be used when checking on train times or finding out information about the station.
However there is a second button that should be used if you require assistance and you are a disabled person. It will either say ‘Assistance’ or ‘Emergency’ depending at which station the Help Point is located. To arrange assistance or to get hold of our 24 hour Control Centre you should use either of these buttons, they go direct through to the person in our Control who will be best placed to assist you.
Inaccessible stations
Some Southeastern stations have no step free access from the entrance to the platforms or don’t have step free interchange between the platforms. Where you’re unable to physically access the station, we’ll provide alternative transport (such as a taxi) – at no extra charge – to take you to the nearest accessible station if, for example, you’re a wheelchair user and need level access. Visit our
station information page for details of step free access at stations.
