One of Great Britain’s most successful Paralympians says she’s been forced to “crawl off” a train in London, just a day before para-sport’s showpiece global event kicks off in Paris.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, an 11-time gold medallist and disability rights advocate, accused consecutive governments of having “kicked the can down the road” on rail accessibility after the Monday night incident, urging more action.
The the retired Welsh wheelchair racer documented her struggle to get off the London North Eastern Railway train after she arrived at Kings Cross Station just after 10pm (7am on Tuesday AEST).
“Hey @lner my train has arrived at KGX and there is no one to get me off,” she posted on X, formerly Twitter, in the first of several posts sent a few minutes apart.
“Cleaning crew are on board.
“Cleaning crew are now leaving the train !!!!
“Who do I need to call to get off this train !!! It got to KGX 10 mins ago !!!!!”
After a quarter of an hour waiting, the House of Lords crossbench peer, who’s heading to Paris on Tuesday, took matters into her own hands.
“At 22.17 (train got in at 22.02) I decided to crawl off,” she posted.
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“Had to move all my stuff onto the platform.
“Member of cleaning staff offered to help. They’re not insured.”
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday morning, Grey-Thompson said she was “still quite angry”.
“I thought I was over it, but I’m not, because I can still just about get off the train if I have to,” she said.
“There are loads of people who can’t, and it was only (when) the train manager on the 11 o’clock train going north saw me getting off the train, that somebody came along.
“If they hadn’t have seen that, I don’t know whether I would have got off.”
The LNER’s accessible travel policy encourages passengers with mobility issues to book a passenger assist service in advance but specifically states that it’s not obligatory.
“When alighting from a train, particularly at a station where that train ends its journey, we will help you leave the train as soon as possible,” the document says.
“Sometimes we cannot get to you immediately, but you will be assisted off the train within five minutes of the train’s arrival time.
“You do not have to book in advance to receive assistance. While we strongly encourage this, we understand that you cannot always plan in advance.”
Grey-Thompson said she had booked assistance but missed her first train and caught the next one, while stressing that was irrelevant because of the legal right to “turn-up-and-go” on trains.
She said LNER had called her to apologise and the company said it was investigating.
“We are sorry to understand there has been an issue at London King’s Cross station on Monday evening,” an LNER spokesperson said.
“We are in the process of investigating this and are in contact with the customer directly.”
She said trains were meant to have “level boarding”, enabling easier access for passengers with reduced mobility but “every single government has kicked the can down the road”.
The Paralympian agreed with the BBC presenter that the incident highlighted that disabled people were still fighting battles many thought had been won a long time ago.
“London (2012) was amazing. It was the most incredible Paralympics ever,” she said.
“It didn’t solve all these problems.”