Wheelchair User Forced to Crawl Off GWR Train After Ramp Refused, Sparking Accessibility Outcry

A 24-year-old wheelchair user has described being reduced to tears as she crawled on her hands and knees through multiple train carriages after Great Western Railway staff told her a ramp could not be used to help her disembark. Phoebe Tesoriere, who lived in Caerphilly at the time of the incident, was travelling on a GWR service from London Paddington to Bath Spa when the ordeal unfolded in December 2025. The experience has prompted her to demand sweeping improvements to accessible transport across the UK, warning that disabled passengers continue to face unacceptable barriers despite widespread assumptions that modern rail travel is fully inclusive.

Phoebe, a former Cardiff University student, lives with hereditary spastic paraplegia, a genetic condition that causes progressive weakness and stiffness in the leg muscles. According to the NHS, the disorder affects mobility and can worsen over time, meaning accessible transport is not a convenience for Phoebe but an essential requirement for her independence and safety. Her family had taken the trip to London as a Christmas gift, attending a concert the night before the journey home, only for the return leg to become what her mother describes as a traumatic and humiliating event.

Before boarding, Phoebe's mother Kirstin Tesoriere specifically asked the assistance desk whether a ramp and staff support would be waiting at Bath Spa. The family says they were given firm assurances that both would be provided. Phoebe was directed to the only designated wheelchair space on the train, and she says staff checked which station she would be disembarking at numerous times during the journey. Despite those repeated confirmations, no one warned her that the carriage she had been placed in would come to a stop beyond the platform edge, making it impossible for a ramp to be deployed.

When the train arrived at Bath Spa, Phoebe and her parents were instead told to remain on board and continue to Bristol Temple Meads, a further 15 to 20 minutes away, before purchasing new tickets back to Bath Spa so she could exit safely. The family explained this was not feasible because Phoebe's grandparents were waiting at Bath Spa station to collect them and drive her back to Caerphilly, where she was living at the time. With no viable alternative offered, staff suggested she attempt to manoeuvre her wheelchair through the train's aisle, but the chair did not fit.

Faced with no other option, Phoebe crawled through three carriages to reach an exit. "I was crying. People were staring," she recalled. One fellow passenger reached down to stroke her back and apologised, telling her that what was happening was not acceptable. Phoebe said the woman was trying to comfort her, but the gesture left her feeling as though she were being treated like a dog. Her mother, Kirstin, described watching the scene as deeply traumatic and said she felt completely helpless. "When I close my eyes I can still see it, the pity on other passengers' faces," Kirstin said. "It was humiliating for her."

The physical toll extended beyond the crawl itself. Phoebe's parents ultimately had to lift her back into her wheelchair so she could exit the train via the ramp, because no staff were waiting to assist her at the station. The family's account raises serious questions about the reliability of assistance bookings and the communication failures that can leave disabled passengers stranded between stations with no safe way to disembark.

In response to the incident, Great Western Railway issued an apology and admitted fault. The company said it was "really sorry" and acknowledged that it "let her down, both when we helped her board and at several points during her journey." GWR's own investigation, which was not completed until May, concluded that Phoebe's experience was "extremely poor" and the company accepted accountability for what went wrong.

However, Phoebe says the aftermath has been almost as distressing as the incident itself. She filed a formal complaint with GWR on the day it happened, but says the investigation dragged on for months. Although the company confirmed she would receive compensation, she says she has still not received any money, even after sending her bank details as requested. She also claims GWR has "ignored every email I have sent" since June. "Nearly nine months after I complained, I am still fighting to get an answer," she said. "No disabled passenger should ever have to crawl."

Kirstin said she accepts that mistakes were made on the day but believes the way her daughter has been treated since then is inexcusable. "I can't forgive them for how they've made an awful traumatic experience last for months," she said. She added that the family had wanted to make lovely memories together, but they have not used public transport since the incident. "She's just scared now and she's already lost so much to her diagnosis," Kirstin said. "You just want your children to be happy."

Phoebe's condition is expected to deteriorate over time, making the need for dependable accessibility even more pressing. She argues that public perception badly underestimates the scale of the problem, saying many people believe "everything is accessible these days, but it really isn't." Her case highlights a broader pattern of failures in assisted rail travel, where bookings are made in good faith but operational breakdowns leave disabled passengers without the support they were promised.

The incident also underscores the legal and moral obligations of train operators under UK accessibility regulations, which require reasonable adjustments and reliable assistance for passengers with reduced mobility. When those obligations fail, the consequences are not merely inconvenient but can be physically dangerous and psychologically damaging. For Phoebe, the ordeal has left lasting emotional scars and a determination to push for change. "It's ridiculous that disabled passengers are still expected to go through this," she said. Her experience serves as a stark reminder that accessible transport remains far from guaranteed, and that the gap between policy and practice can have deeply personal costs.