Train travel with a disability

Tågresa med funktionsnedsättning - Engelska

There are special rules intended to make train travel easier for you if you have a disability or reduced mobility.

Translated page: This text has been translated from Swedish. The text and appearance of the page may look different from the original page.

Your rights in brief

If you have a disability or reduced mobility, the rules intended to protect you includes that a train company:

  • may not deny you travel on the grounds of your disability

  • may not charge you if you need assistance

  • must try to give you the assistance you need for the train journey

  • must give you information you need and can understand

  • must allow your assistance dog to accompany you

  • must compensate you if your mobility equipment is damaged because of the train company.

What rules apply when you travel by train

  • Persons with disabilities or reduced mobility have the same rights as other passengers to travel by train. This means that the train company cannot refuse to sell a train ticket to a person with disabilities or reduced mobility. There are exceptions when the train company may deny you the purchase of a ticket, for example, if the train company cannot meet the safety requirements for you as a passenger.

  • Everyone who travels by train has the right to certain information from the train company. If you have special needs, such as those due to impaired vision or hearing, the train company must adapt the information to you so that you can understand it just as well as everyone else.

    The train company must also provide information on:

    • What assistive devices are on-board the train.
    • How you can get on and off of the train if you need extra help to do so.
    • Accessibility of the station.

  • You have the right to free assistance while getting on and off the train, on the train, and on the station before and after the train ride.

    • If you have a disability or reduced mobility and need assistance, you must notify the travel company no later than 24 hours before the assistance is needed. If you do not notify the travel company, they must still try to make all reasonable efforts to provide you assistance. The assistance is free of charge.Read more about assisted travel at stationsledsagning.se
    • To get the help you need, you must be at the place and time that the travel company indicates.
    • If the train company requires you to be accompanied by an assistant (ledsagare in Swedish) that person should be able to travel free of charge and be seated, if possible, next to you. The train company can only require you to have an assistant if you truly need it and it is stated in the train company’s terms and conditions.
    • An assistance dog is permitted to accompany you.

  • The train company is liable if they are the reason that your assistive device or assistance dog is damaged or missing. The train company should provide compensation without undue delay. The compensation should include:

    • The cost to replace or repair the equipment that was lost or damaged.
    • The cost to replace or treat the damage if the assistance dog was lost or damaged.
    • Reasonable costs of temporary replacement if the train company did not provide it.

    The train company should rapidly make all reasonable efforts to provide you with a temporary replacement. You can keep the replacement until you have received compensation for the damage.

  • If a train journey is cancelled or delayed, you are entitled to help from the train company. If you have a disability, you must be able to get the same assistance as other passengers, such as help with other transportation if the train journey is interrupted.

    Read more about your rights and compensation in the event of a delayed or cancelled train

  • The Swedish Consumer Agency and the Swedish Transport Agency have a joint responsibility for ensuring that the rules that protect passengers with disabilities are followed.

    You can report to us at the Swedish Consumer Agency if you believe that a transport company or terminal is violating the rules. A report does not mean that your individual case will be investigated. However, it is important information for us when we review how companies comply with the rules.

    File a complaint to the Swedish Consumer Agency

    The Swedish Transport Agency is responsible for ensuring that stations and platforms are accessible. They also oversee that transport companies and station managers, to the greatest extent possible, meet the need for escorts if they are not available on the means of transport

    Contact the Swedish Transport Agency

Tågresa med funktionsnedsättning

Proofread: 6 June 2023

The content is presented in collaboration with ECC Sweden, which is part of the ECC network and the Swedish Consumer Agency's information service. ECC Sweden is part-financed by the European Union.

The content of this website represents the views of the author only and it is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Executive Agency (EISMEA) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

European Union flag with the text: Co-funded by the European Union