Hard-of-hearing customers travelling on East Midlands Railway (EMR) services are now able to access a British Sign Language service.
As a result, they will be able to communicate with railway staff t0 get information about planned journeys and, in the event of disruption, they will be able to seek answers to any questions they may have.
The service is provided by InterpretersLive and is accessed by way of an app or a link.
The interpreter will find out the customer's query through a video call. That question will then be relayed to a member of EMR staff. Once the answer is received, the interpreter will be able to sign the information back to the customer.
The extra support will be available from EMR's Customer Contact Centre as well as stations and on-train teams.
Georgie Hill-Jones, a deaf customer who regularly uses EMR services, said: “It is fantastic to see the rollout of this project. Being able to access in the moment in their first or preferred language of BSL is going to be life changing for deaf passengers and allow them a greater parity of experience in getting from A to B which is something we should all be able to do with ease.”
Dave Meredith, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, added: “We want to make our our network as inclusive and as accessible as possible. This new interpreter service will help our staff provide deaf customers with a better service especially during times of disruption or when they require extra support to make their journey.”
