PRM assistance usage conditions

In some stations, a disabled passenger assistance service is available by prior reservation. To find out the times and conditions of use of the guaranteed services, passengers are invited to enquire when purchasing their ticket.

However, in the absence of a reservation, SNCF provides a free assistance service at certain stations, under the conditions set out below.

We recommend that you book your assistance in advance to ensure that you are taken care of.

The assistance service enables disabled or reduced-mobility passengers with a valid ticket for their journey to receive the assistance they need when boarding and disembarking the train.

On departure, assistance is provided from an accessible meeting point in the station to the seat on the train.

On arrival, assistance is provided from the seat on the train to the station exit, the accessible meeting point at the station, the cab rank next to the station or the connecting train (shown on the train ticket) at the same station.

If there is a wait between the time when the passenger reports to the station and the time he/she is picked up, he/she should remain close to the place where he/she has been seated.

The assistance service for people with disabilities or reduced mobility is not in any circumstance a service of accompaniment during the journey and would not in any circumstance involve the performance of a medical or paramedical action of any kind including (although not exhaustively): 

• Handling of drip equipment, 
• Transport of a person on a stretcher, 
• Hosting or accompanying a person unable to perform basic needs by themselves (communicating, showing their ticket, feeding themselves, drinking, dressing, going to the toilet, etc.) unless they have a carer to perform these actions 
• Lifting a person from a wheelchair to a seat. 

Furthermore, the agents or service provider will not be able to use any electric controls on passengers’ wheelchairs. 

Also, the assistance service does not include responding to passengers’ personal needs such as purchasing food and drinks, accompaniment into shops, rail company ticket offices and station services (lockers, toilets, etc.). Staff may however assist passengers using the assistance service to validate their ticket. 

The beneficiaries of assistance are all disabled people or people with reduced mobility as defined by European regulations (EC regulation 1371/2007), i.e. "Any person whose mobility is reduced, when using a means of transport, due to any physical disability (sensory or motor, permanent or temporary) or any intellectual disability or impairment, or any other cause of disability or age, and whose situation requires appropriate attention".

This definition includes in particular: holders of disability cards, priority cards, vehicle parking cards, war veterans, passengers arriving at stations in their own wheelchairs, and anyone else who has difficulty getting around.

The assistance service for disabled passengers or those with reduced mobility does not constitute tourist assistance or assistance for travelers with strollers, nor is it a luggage-carrying service.

The guide, who benefits from a reduction or free ride depending on the disability card of the disabled person he or she is accompanying, cannot use the service for himself or herself.

For all requests made at the station, staff will check whether it is possible to provide assistance on departure and arrival.

If necessary, staff may suggest that passengers modify their journey to enable them to benefit from the assistance service.

Passengers must arrive at the pick-up point at least 30 minutes before the departure of their train, with their ticket and all necessary documents (discount card, proof of identity, etc.).

For passengers bringing their own wheelchair, dimensions must not exceed 700 mm in width and 1200 mm in length.
The turning radius of the wheelchair must not exceed 1500mm.
The weight of the wheelchair and its occupant (including any luggage) must not exceed: 300kg for an electric wheelchair where no boarding aid is required, or 200kg for a manual wheelchair.

Subject to compliance with the time limit for presentation at the station, passengers who have booked assistance will have priority over those who have requested it spontaneously.

The assistance service includes the free transportation of a single piece of luggage weighing up to 15kg to or from your seat on the train. No additional weight or number of items may be carried. Luggage weight can be checked by station agents.

If the passenger does not comply with the above conditions, the assistance service cannot be provided, unless the passenger makes arrangements to carry baggage that does not meet the required conditions.

Non-folding wheelchairs cannot be considered as hand luggage.

Only staff in charge of the assistance service or SNCF service providers are authorized to handle boarding and disembarking aids present in the station: ramps, manual or electric lifting platforms, etc...

In a certain number of stations, SNCF has computerized the monitoring of the assistance service to improve quality, responsiveness and ensure that services are carried out correctly.

Personal information may be collected at stations in order to feed the computer tool dedicated to monitoring assistance services for disabled passengers.

The information requested concerns :

• The passenger's identity: surname, first name(s)
• The passenger's telephone number (if the passenger accepts)
• The type of assistance required and the information needed to determine the need for assistance
• The characteristics of the wheelchair, if applicable: whether manual or electric.

This data is kept for a maximum of 5 years after the last assistance service provided to the passenger.

All information is reserved for the use of the service(s) concerned. This information is only communicated to the following recipients according to their authorizations: SNCF, SNCF Gares et Connexions, their service providers and railway establishments.

In accordance with the provisions of the French Data Protection Act no. 78-17 of January 6, 1978 and the European Regulation 2016/679 on the protection of Personal Data of April 27, 2016, travelers have the right to access, rectify and delete data concerning them, the right to object to and limit its processing, and the right to portability. All requests should be sent to the following address: [email protected]