A wheelchair user has shared the ‘frustrating and disruptive’ moment she was left ‘trapped on a train’ and unable to get off after a guard failed to meet her with a ramp.
Katie Pennick, 23, from London, filmed other passengers as they walked off the train when its doors opened at the platform, with many lugging suitcases as they squeezed past her.
The disability activist said she was left feeling ‘powerless and small’ after a fellow passenger was forced to wave for help after being forgotten by staff.
She tweeted: ‘Ever wondered what it feels like to be trapped on a train, unable to get off? Here is a video from my Point Of View, as it happened to me *again* just now.
‘This scenario is all too familiar to disabled people. It is demoralising, stress-inducing, and makes me feel powerless and small. Like my time isn’t important,’ she added.
Katie told FEMAIL: ‘My experiences are an all-too familiar situation for disabled people. We are constantly let down by the inaccessibility of transport infrastructure.
Katie Pennick (pictured), 23, from London, filmed other passengers as they walked off the train when its doors opened at the platform, with many lugging suitcases as they squeezed past her
‘This is why I fight for level boarding. I can’t rely on staff to meet me with a ramp. Because they don’t.’
In another tweet she added: ‘In this instance the train terminated so, though frustrating and disruptive, I could wait.
‘But do you know how nerve-wracking it is when passing a station and the ramp doesn’t show up – meaning you could end up missing your stop?’
‘This scenario is all too familiar to disabled people. It is demoralising, stress-inducing, and makes me feel powerless and small. Like my time isn’t important.’
It comes just after Katie was left ‘freezing’ in a station after staff told her she arrived too late for them to use the ramp so she could board the train.
She took to Twitter to share a selfie appearing deflated as she waited on the platform despite arriving five minutes before her train was due to leave.
She tweeted: ‘Ever wondered what it feels like to be trapped on a train, unable to get off? Here is a video from my Point Of View, as it happened to me *again* just now’
The disability activist claims she was late after the bus she was on did not pull up close enough to the pavement for her to get off.
Katie told FEMAIL that the driver let everyone off before her before physically lifting her wheelchair from the back which took several minutes.
She had to wait more than half an hour until her next train and has since described the delay she experienced due to inaccessible transport as ‘taking its toll’ after a ‘long and stressful day’.
The short clip showed Katie sitting in her wheelchair by the train door as another passenger asked if she needed any help
Taking to Twitter, Katie, who works for Transport for All and has started a podcast about disability, wrote: ‘I’m watching my train leave in 5 mins and I’m not on it because I apparently didn’t arrive early enough for staff to get the ramp.
‘I’m late because the bus I was on let everyone (20+ people – full bus) off before deploying the ramp for me. Everyone on that bus made their train.’
‘The hold ups and delays I experience due to the inaccessible/unequal transport system have a knock-on effect, and very quickly accumulate. I now have to wait over half an hour for the next train. It’s not much, but it adds up.
The man, who waved down the platform at a staff member, added: ‘There’s a guy in an orange jacket. I assume that’s him I’ll tell him to come up’
‘And after a long and stressful day, having to spend this half hour waiting in a freezing station rather than at home taking care of myself really takes its toll.’
Speaking to Femail, Katie added: ‘As my experience demonstrated, several small delays quickly accumulate into larger ones, and I find myself always running late due to the barriers I encounter, no matter how early I set off.
‘These constant delays, coupled with the fact that disabled passengers are expected to arrive at a station 20 minutes before their train departs in order to be assisted, leaves disabled people in an impossible situation.
‘How are we expected to arrive early when we are always running late?
Katie told FEMAIL that the driver let everyone off before her before physically lifting her wheelchair from the back which took several minutes
‘It makes me feel that my time as a disabled person is less valued and less important than everyone else’s.
‘The flaws in our train design mean I rely on a staff member to manually deploy a ramp for me to board a train.
‘And I rely on them phoning my destination station so a ramp will meet me at the other end. This regularly fails, and I am often left stranded on a train unable to leave, forced to pull the emergency lever or ask strangers for help.
‘Having my independence taken from me – having to rely on staff assistance and having that assistance fail – is demoralising, and makes me feel powerless and small.
Katie is a keen campaigner for better access for wheelchair users, and has previously shared other videos after being left on a train
‘That is why I am fighting for level boarding across the rail network, so I and others like me – whether you use a wheelchair, are a mother with a buggy, elderly, or just have large luggage with you – can travel freely and independently, equal to everyone else.’
A spokesperson for Chiltern Railways said: ‘We apologise that Ms Pennick’s experience of passenger assistance with Chiltern Railways wasn’t to the standard our customers should expect.
‘We have already set up a meeting with Ms Pennick and Transport for All to discuss how to ensure our passenger assistance maintains the highest standards.
‘We’re looking forward to working together to better understand ways that Chiltern can continue to improve.’
Twitter users were quick to post a message of support, as some shared similar experiences.
One penned: ‘Thank you for posting this. I have been in that position so many times and the stress of it is awful.
She said she was left feeling ‘powerless and small’ after being forgotten by staff. ‘This scenario is all too familiar to disabled people,’ she added
‘On a few occasions the train doors closed and the train moved off to next destination.
‘Awful experience and there is simply no reason why it should ever happen.’
Another user advised: ‘Please, please please pull the green lever next to the door and delay the service the next time the ramp doesn’t show up and the train is making to leave.
‘You won’t get into trouble, they have to state on the report why it was pulled, and they’ll likely have to pay a delay fine.’
In 2018 one staff member even started emptying the train carriage’s bins while Katie waited for someone to bring a ramp so she could get onto the platform
Another wrote added: ‘Totally nerve wracking waiting but it restores me faith in humans when people like that man actively wait and wave down help rather than leaving.
‘That was nice, the ‘I mean I can shove you out’ bit made me chuckle.’
Katie replied: ‘You’re right, people are generally marvellous. I just shouldn’t have to rely upon them.’
And another shared their opinion: ‘Oh no definitely not! This video shows the privilege non-disabled people have, just being able to stroll off when wheelchairs users have to wait.
‘Our lives have to be constantly planned with extra time for all the waiting we have to do for others to help.’
Katie is a keen campaigner for better access for wheelchair users, and has previously shared other videos after being left on a train.
In 2018, one staff member even started emptying the train carriage’s bins while Katie waited for someone to bring a ramp so she could get onto the platform.
Other twitter users were quick to post a message of support, as some shared similar experiences. Rosemary Frazer penned: ‘Thank you for posting this’