“Association of the Disabled Calls for Renegotiation of Norway’s NOK 8 Billion Train Deal”

Norway will spend NOK eight billion on new trains. Now the Association of the Disabled (FFO) believes that the agreement must be renegotiated.

Down at the station early one afternoon, all the trains are neatly lined up. But the man on the locomotive does not crank a handle. He lowers the built-in elevator to allow Cato Lie to board.

Lie is an adviser in the Joint Organization for the Disabled (FFO), wheelchair user – and train passenger. But sometimes he feels like something other than a passenger. More like an obstacle. One who delays the train in keeping the timetable.

– I want to manage myself and get on and off the train just like everyone else, he says.

His wish was fulfilled in February. Then told Norwegian trainsNorwegian trainsThe state company that buys, owns and manages the passenger trains in Norway. that they will buy up to 100 new long-distance trains. The trains will make the journey better for all travellers. Especially wheelchair users.

– We have been told that the new trains will be universally designed, says Lie before he sighs:

– But the truth is that they are absolutely not.