Wheelchair demonstration in Bern: people with disabilities sue SBB

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The protest rolled out in front of the main building of the SBB on Thursday afternoon. About 30 people with and without disabilities protested in front of the Federal Railways office building in Bern Wankdorf. The reason for their dissatisfaction: many Swiss train stations are still not barrier-free.

Access to buildings, apartments, facilities and public transport must be possible for people with disabilities without difficult circumstances. This is stated in the federal Disability Equality Act of 2004. A transition period of twenty years applied to trains, trams and buses. Since the beginning of this year, Swiss public transport must be completely barrier-free.

“We want to make a statement”

But the reality is different: only 60 percent of train stations are still barrier-free for people with disabilities.

“We want to break this lack of interest by setting a good example,” says Roger Lier (47). He and a group of people with disabilities submitted a petition with demands on Thursday. They would do this on behalf of all transport companies at the SBB headquarters in Bern.

The demonstration was not organized by any organization, it was simply “a group of dissatisfied people” with wheelchairs, according to Lier. They were originally connected via the text messaging service WhatsApp.

Their plan was to demonstrate in the public canteen of the SBB. However, the SBB denied them access and that is why they gathered in front of the building. In their petition they demand that the transport companies and politicians apologize and pay compensation for the missed deadline.

No apologies from SBB

There was no apology from SBB on Thursday. When asked, the media agency told Blick it understood the concerns of those affected and regretted that the “entire public transport sector” had not yet achieved its target in implementing the Disability Equality Act.

In order to be able to implement the structural measures according to plan, we are also dependent on financial resources from the federal government. (she)

Source:Blick