Railway undertakings, station managers, ticket vendors and tour operators shall cooperate in order to provide assistance free of charge to persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility, as specified in Articles 21 and 23, offering a single notification mechanism, in accordance with the following points:
(a)
assistance shall be provided on condition that the railway undertaking, the station manager, the ticket vendor or the tour operator with which the ticket was purchased, or the Single Point of Contact referred to in point (f), where applicable, is notified of the passenger’s need for such assistance at least 24 hours before the assistance is needed. A single notification per journey shall be sufficient. Such notifications shall be forwarded to all railway undertakings and station managers involved in the journey.
Such notifications shall be accepted without additional costs, irrespective of the means of communication being used.
Where a ticket or season ticket permits multiple journeys, one notification shall be sufficient provided that adequate information on the timing of subsequent journeys is provided, and in any case at least 24 hours before the first time the assistance is needed. The passenger or his/her representative shall make all reasonable efforts to inform of any annulation of such subsequent journeys at least 12 hours in advance.
Member States may allow the 24-hour period for notifications referred to in the first, second and third subparagraphs to be extended up to 36 hours, but not beyond 30 June 2026. In such cases, Member States shall notify the Commission of that permission and provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to reduce the period;
(b)
railway undertakings, station managers, ticket vendors and tour operators shall take all measures necessary for the reception of notifications. Where ticket vendors are unable to process such notifications, they shall indicate alternative points of purchase or alternative means to make the notification;
(c)
if no notification is made in accordance with point (a), the railway undertaking and the station manager shall make all reasonable efforts to provide assistance in such a way that the person with disabilities or person with reduced mobility may travel;
(d)
without prejudice to point (f) of this Article, the station manager or any other authorised person shall designate points at which persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility can make their arrival at the railway station known and request assistance. The responsibilities regarding the designation of such points and the provision of information about them shall be established in the access rules referred to in Article 21(1);
(e)
assistance shall be provided on condition that the person with disabilities or person with reduced mobility presents him or herself at the designated point at a time stipulated by the railway undertaking or station manager providing such assistance. Any time stipulated shall not be more than 60 minutes before the published departure time or the time at which all passengers are asked to check in. If no time is stipulated by which the person with disabilities or person with reduced mobility is required to present him or herself, the person shall present him or herself at the designated point at least 30 minutes before the published departure time or before the time at which all passengers are asked to check in;
(f)
Member States may require that station managers and railway undertakings on their territory cooperate to establish and to operate Single Points of Contact for persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility. The terms for the operation of the Single Points of Contact shall be established in the access rules referred to in Article 21(1). Those Single Points of Contact have the responsibility to:
(i)
accept requests for assistance at stations;
(ii)
communicate individual requests for assistance to station managers and railway undertakings; and
(iii)
provide information on accessibility.