1. Persons with disabilities or persons with reduced mobility shall be assisted as follows:
(a)
the personal assistant, recognised as such in accordance with national practices, may travel with a special tariff and, if applicable, free of charge and be seated, where practicable, next to the person with disabilities;
(b)
where a railway undertaking requires that a passenger needs to be accompanied on board the train in accordance with Article 21(2), the accompanying person shall be entitled to travel free of charge and to be seated, where practicable, next to the person with disabilities or to the person with reduced mobility;
(c)
an assistance dog shall be permitted to accompany them in accordance with any relevant national law;
(d)
for unstaffed trains, station managers or railway undertakings shall provide assistance free of charge, in conformity with the access rules referred to in Article 21(1), during boarding and alighting from a train when there is trained staff on duty at the station;
(e)
on departure from, transit through or arrival at a staffed railway station, the station manager or the railway undertaking shall provide assistance free of charge in such a way that that person is able to board the train, to transfer to a connecting rail service for which he or she has a ticket, or to alight from the train, provided there is trained staff on duty. Where the need for assistance has been notified in advance in accordance with point (a) of Article 24, the station manager or the railway undertaking shall ensure that assistance is provided as requested;
(f)
at unstaffed stations, railway undertakings shall provide assistance free of charge on board a train and during boarding and alighting from a train if the train is accompanied by trained staff;
(g)
in the absence of trained accompanying staff on board a train and at a station, station managers or railway undertakings shall make all reasonable efforts to enable persons with disabilities or persons with reduced mobility to have access to travel by rail;
(h)
railway undertakings shall make all reasonable efforts to provide persons with disabilities or persons with reduced mobility with access to the same on-board services as other passengers, where these persons cannot have access to those services independently and safely.
2. The rules referred to in Article 21(1) shall establish the arrangements for the exercise of the rights referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.