disability access

Being a speech therapist who has worked with people with physical disabilities, I tend to notice wheelchair accessibility. Neither Ireland's nor Barcelona's train systems are very accessible. In Barcelona, there was a step that you needed to step down (protects from the gap) while getting off the train. On some trains, there are a few steps that are pretty steep so it is a bit hard to climb up/down.

In Dublin, there are usually gaps between the train and platform so it is hard to get a wheelchair onto the train (or difficult for people using canes or crutches). Some stations have these ramp things that you can use but I don't know how the station knows to have it out because it is movable. The station that I use doesn't have an elevator right now and is definitely not wheelchair accessible. But at least they are trying to make the train system more accessible.

The buses in Dublin aren't very accessible either. Some buses have ramps that can be lowered and raised for people in wheelchairs. However, the angle of the ramp is still fairly steep and people have difficulty with it. This summer, a guy in a wheelchair was getting off the bus and the driver didn't pull up close enough to the curb. The driver lowered the ramp and the guy started going down the ramp. However, due to the steepness and the gap between the bus and the curb, he fell face first into the ground! It was shocking and scary. The guy was OK and able to talk on the phone to the paramedics, who we waited for. Eventually, the next bus came ad we all got on that one.