Written by Chillie Falls for AccessAdventure.net with an assist from John Reitmeier
Yesterday, I was talking to Nanook of the North John, from Crookston, Minnesota, and he inquired if I knew about SalaBlu. I assumed he was getting ready to tell me a joke.
“No, he said. “These people are meeting my at the luggage carousel when I get to Rome, providing me transportation to the train station, and assure I get on the train and to my seat. Then in Florence, the help me off the train, and transport me to my hotel. They have this service all over Italy.”
I knew I was in for some research. Here is some of what I have found.
Sala Blu
We coordinate our assistance services for persons with disability and reduced mobility from 16 SALA BLU offices: central hubs of a reception and organisation system for a circuit of over 350 stations
Local Sala Blu offices of RFI are found in 15 main stations, in addition to a National Sala Blu office, but it operates only by telephone and the web. Sala Blu offices are open every day, including weekends and public holidays, from 6:45 am to 9:30 pm and provide information and bookings for assistance services, which can be provided round the clock at all stations in the network.
The assistance services, free of charge, consist of:
– meeting passengers at the station at the agreed meeting point or, for incoming passengers, at their seat on board the train,
– meeting passengers to the station to collect their tickets, if applicable,
– accompanying passengers on board the departing train to their assigned seats or from the arriving train to the station exit or, for those continuing their journey, on board another train,
– providing, on request, a wheelchair for accompanying passengers to/from the train at the station,
– boarding and alighting the train by means of a forklift for passengers on wheelchairs,
– a hand luggage service (1 piece of luggage) if required.
The assistance services are aimed at:
– people with limb problems, even temporary ones, or people with walking difficulties,
– wheelchair users (see details),
– people who are blind or visually impaired,
– people who are deaf or hard of hearing,
– the elderly,
– pregnant women,
– people with cognitive disabilities.
If the passenger requiring assistance is not self-sufficient, the service may only be able to be provided if there is a personal assistant at the station or a person accompanying them during the trip.
STATIONS WITH ASSISTANCE SERVICES…
THE 16 SALA BLU OFFICES, STATIONS SERVED
How and when to book
USING THE SALABLU+ APP FOR PEOPLE WITH HEARING DISABILITIES
Bookings can be made during Sala Blu offices opening hours from 6:45 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. all day, including weekends and public holidays by contacting the company you made your booking with, by heading to one of the Sala Blu offices or by calling the:
- 800 90 60 60, toll-free number contactable from italian landline;
- +39 02 32 32 32, ordinary rate number from landline and mobile.
At fast stations, reservations can be made up to one hour before the departure of the train for assistance services between 7:45 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., and at least 12 hours before for assistance services between 10:31 p.m. and 7:44 a.m. Fast stations include the stations with Sala Blu offices and the following stations: Bologna Centrale AV, Civitavecchia, Fiumicino Aeroporto, Genova Brignole, Genova Piazza Principe Sotterranea, Milano Porta Garibaldi, Milano Porta Garibaldi Sotterranea, Napoli Afragola, Napoli Piazza Garibaldi, Padua, Palermo Centrale, Pisa Centrale, Roma Tiburtina, Salerno, Torino Porta Susa, Villa San Giovanni and Venezia Mestre.
At all other stations in the PRM Assistance Network (standard stations) the reservation must be made at least 12 business hours in advance, considering the Sala Blu offices opening hours as business hours.
In the event of travel between a fast station and a standard station, the service must be booked 12 hours prior to the time/departure at the standard station.
For groups of passengers with disability or reduced mobility, consisting of 3 or more persons, the assistance reservation must be made at least 48 hours in advance of the train’s departure time. This is required to allow Railway Undertaking to verify the availabilty of seats onboard of the train.
In case of international journeys, the requests for assistance should be sent preferably by e-mail to the Sala Blu offices for the stations where the chosen trains stop, or to the National Sala Blu office (SalaBlu.Nazionale@rfi.it) at least 24 hours before the journey, considering that this notice could be extended to 48 hours for travelling to or from stations of foreign countries that apply different notice periods.
For travels crossing the Strait of Messina with Blu Jet fast ships, it is possible to request the assistance service, from the arrival time at the railway station to the boarding point, and vice versa, with an intermodal transfer between train and ship. The service should preferably be requested by sending an e-mail to the Sala Blu in Messina (SalaBlu.Messina@rfi.it) or to the Sala Blu in Reggio Calabria (SalaBlu.ReggioCalabria@rfi.it) at least 24 hours before the scheduled arrival time at the interchange station, or with the standard times foreseen by the different procedures for requesting the service and/or by the type of station.
Appointments with the assistance staff at the departure stations are planned at the same time as the reservations in one of the available meeting points, at least 30 minutes in advance of the departure of the train.
Help us to maintain the high quality of Sala Blu office services! If you wish to cancel your journey after your booking has been confirmed, always inform Sala Blu offices (by telephone or e-mail), preferably at least 4 hours in advance.
The personal data communicated by passengers to benefit from the assistance services are managed in compliance with European Regulation no. 679/2016: read the privacy policy.