BUNGLING rail operator Govia has come under fire once again for advising disabled people wanting to travel by train to ring a call centre in India which will send a “man in a van” to assist them.

The ludicrous advice by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which operates Thameslink, Southern Rail, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services, appeared in a leaflet that also instructed staff to leave disabled people on the platform if helping them onto trains might delay departure.

And if any passenger is taken ill onboard “they must be removed as soon as possible to avoid delays.”

Rail union RMT said that the instructions illustrated the growing chaos of privatised rail services across Britain, warning that passengers were venting their anger at front-line staff, rather than at the profit-hungry privateer operators responsible for the debacle.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “The intention of GTR’s latest scheme is clear to me. It is to drive disabled people from our railway as they are an inconvenience.”

It comes as GTR attempts to remove safety-critical guards from trains — the workers who assist disabled passengers.

Mr Cash said: “What is wrong with a simple obvious solution of having a guaranteed guard on every train? That is the way you ensure disabled access and is the agreement that we have in Wales and Scotland.

“This latest crazy scheme is doomed to failure and is a sticking plaster solution to a massive problem GTR has bought on itself in the drive for profit. It treats passengers requiring assistance with total contempt and marks them down as second-class citizens in contravention of disability discrimination law.”

A GTR spokesman admitted that “the wording of the internal leaflet … could have been better expressed and it has already been revised.

“We ask all passengers to give themselves plenty of time to arrive ahead of a train’s departure as we aim to ensure each service leaves on time for the benefit of all our customers.”

RMT warned that front-line staff were facing increasing verbal abuse from passengers frustrated at the shambles which has followed introduction of new timetables earlier this week — particularly at GTR and Northern.

“The union will not tolerate a situation where our members are effectively being deployed as human shields by a remote and incompetent management,” stormed Mr Cash.