A wheelchair user was livid after boarding a train only to discover the space for disabled people was piled high with people’s luggage.
Becky Whitworth, 27, was travelling with her mum and sister from Dundee to Doncaster train service after a spending the weekend away.
When she boarded the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) at York for the second half of her journey – she noticed that passengers had put their bags in her spot.
She posted a pic on Twitter, venting her frustrations.
She wrote: "This is my reserved w/chair space. On a train you put me on 6 hours before I originally booked because there was no room.
"@LNER your staff are rude and obnoxious this was dangerous. No disabled toilet either".
Becky said to the Sun that when the guard put her on, he spotted the bags and said "oh that’s your reserved space but it’s ok" and put her somewhere that isn’t designed for wheelchair users.
"So as my chair wasn’t backed up against anything solid, my sister had to stand and hold my chair steady to prevent it tipping," she said.
The situation only got worse when a guard came to check tickets, which were in a bag on the back of Becky’s chair.
She said her difficulty in getting them made the guard "stand-offish" but he didn’t comment on the fact she was not in her designated space and that the disabled toilet wasn’t working.
Becky reckons the problem will only improve when more wheelchair spaces are made available on trains, and staff are given better training on how to improve services for disabled people.
Read More
How to save on London travel costs
-
Cheap travel tickets
-
Virgin Trains hacks
-
Booking tips
-
Network Railcard facts
She "dreads" travelling on trains as she has to pre-book assistance, she said: "I mean what other minority group would it be acceptable to tell them that only one of their kind can travel on that train? It’s appalling."
Becky has Osteogenesis Imperfecta, which means her bones break easily. She’s suffered over 300 fractures in her lifetime.
A customer relations manager has offered to meet with Becky to discuss her experience, after contacting their complaints team.
Source: Read Full Article