Wheelchair on the Silver Star

[Bronzeman]

Our adult son will be taking the Silver Star from Raleigh to visit his cousin his cousin in Tampa.

Unfortunately he has CP in his legs. He can get by (albeit slowly) with a walker for distances under a hundred feet or so; anything longer requires a wheelchair.

He will be in a Roomette both ways. If he were to get on with his walker would there be space somewhere (the end of the car perhaps) to sore his wheelchair. It is the usual manual type on which the sides fold together for storage. I don’t think it would fit in the Roomette.

Assuming that’s not possible, can wheelchairs be checked as baggage. We do not have a box for it.

 

[fdaley]

Our adult son will be taking the Silver Star from Raleigh to visit his cousin his cousin in Tampa.

Unfortunately he has CP in his legs. He can get by (albeit slowly) with a walker for distances under a hundred feet or so; anything longer requires a wheelchair.

He will be in a Roomette both ways. If he were to get on with his walker would there be space somewhere (the end of the car perhaps) to sore his wheelchair. It is the usual manual type on which the sides fold together for storage. I don’t think it would fit in the Roomette.

Assuming that’s not possible, can wheelchairs be checked as baggage. We do not have a box for it.

I'm afraid the aisle leading to the roomettes will not be wide enough for either walker or wheelchair. I would recommend trying to rebook in an accessible bedroom (Bedroom H). The passage from the vestibule to the H room is plenty wide, and the room is a much nicer accommodation. It's also usually available at something close to the roomette fare. If you book online, you have to specify that you're booking for a passenger with a disability; otherwise the accessible room doesn't show up as an option.

Also, Bedroom H has plenty of floor space for wheelchair and/or walker, whereas a standard wheelchair would be pretty much impossible to fit in a roomette. A collapsible walker could be done, but there's the issue of getting from the vestibule to the room.

 

[joelkfla]

Our adult son will be taking the Silver Star from Raleigh to visit his cousin his cousin in Tampa.

Unfortunately he has CP in his legs. He can get by (albeit slowly) with a walker for distances under a hundred feet or so; anything longer requires a wheelchair.

He will be in a Roomette both ways. If he were to get on with his walker would there be space somewhere (the end of the car perhaps) to sore his wheelchair. It is the usual manual type on which the sides fold together for storage. I don’t think it would fit in the Roomette.

Assuming that’s not possible, can wheelchairs be checked as baggage. We do not have a box for it.

Definitely want an accessible bedroom. The corridor is 24" wide. A standard wheelchair won't fit. A narrow rollator might, but there are 90 degree turns to deal with.

On the website reservation page, check the "Passenger with disability" box under the originating station, or on the app, tap "Need assistance". Either will open a series of questions which eventually lead to "Have my own wheeled device" followed by "Manual wheelchair". This will limit displayed rooms to the Accessible Bedrooms. The cost will be approximately the same as a Roomette, minus a 10% disability discount. Or he can just call the Amtrak reservation number, tell them that he will be traveling with a wheelchair, and let them do the work.

There are 2 accessible bedrooms on the Silver Star. The one in car number 9210 is adjacent to the Diner, which he should be able to roll right into and up to the accessible table just inside the door, as long as he can navigate the 2 doors between cars. If he's in car 9211, he'll have to order meals from the SCA and have the food brought to his room. (Although I think someone on this board said that wheelchair occupants could request to be lowered from their car on the lift at a station stop and lifted onto the car adjacent to the diner for access.)

There's no place designated to store wheelchairs, or any baggage, on the Viewliner cars. If there happened to be a room that was unoccupied during the entire trip, perhaps the SCA would allow it to be stored there, but there's no policy for that. Wheelchairs can be checked as baggage at no charge if they weigh less than 50 lbs.; I don't think you need a box. But he would still need to get from the baggage check to the car, and from the car door to the Roomette.

 

[daybeers]

The advice above is good; just wanted to add that under no circumstance should the accessible bedroom be more expensive than a roomette if the passenger traveling needs it for disability reasons, and if an agent tells you differently, just politely ask for their supervisor. Less than 14 days before departure, the accessible bedroom opens to all passengers.