Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, one of Britain’s most celebrated Paralympians, has criticised the lack of support for disabled passengers after she was forced to “crawl off a train” at London King’s Cross station. The incident occurred on Monday evening when Baroness Grey-Thompson, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, arrived at the station only to find no one available to assist her.
The former Paralympian, who has won 11 gold medals across five Paralympic Games between 1988 and 2004, had booked assistance in advance. However, after missing her 7:15pm train from Leeds, she boarded the 7:45pm service instead. Upon her arrival at King’s Cross at 10pm, she waited for 16 minutes, but no staff appeared to help her disembark.
“I waited five minutes before I put anything on social media, because that’s… you’re meant to leave sort of five minutes,” Baroness Grey-Thompson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “But after 16 minutes of sitting at King’s Cross, no one in sight – there were a couple of cleaners, but they’re not insured or able to help me off – I decided that I’d crawl off the train.”
Describing her experience, she said, “I had a few bags, had to chuck them on the platform, get out of my chair, sit on the floor right by the door, which is not particularly pleasant, and then crawl off.” She expressed her frustration, adding, “There was no one around. I mean, I was pretty angry last night.”
Baroness Grey-Thompson highlighted the legal rights of disabled passengers, stating, “Disabled people have a legal right to turn up and go. So I had booked assistance, but I hadn’t made that train, so, legally, I am allowed to turn up and ask to get on a train. Once somebody has put me on a train, I have a contract, which means somebody should meet me at the other end.”
She also criticised the current state of the railway booking system, describing it as “not particularly fit for purpose,” with inconsistencies across different train companies. She lamented the delays in implementing level boarding under the Disability Discrimination Act, which was supposed to be in place by 1 January 2020. “Every single government has kicked the can down the road. It is now going to be 100 years before we have level boarding and I can get on a train without the permission or support of a non-disabled person.”
Reflecting on the broader implications of her experience, Baroness Grey-Thompson said, “There are loads of people who can’t [get off the train], and it was only the train manager on the 11 o’clock train going north who saw me getting off the train that somebody came along. If they hadn’t seen that, I don’t know whether I would have got off. I would have had to have pulled the emergency cord and then delayed the train going north.”
Following the incident, a senior member of London North Eastern Railway (LNER) contacted her on Monday night and again on Tuesday morning, confirming that an investigation had begun. LNER managing director David Horne also apologised publicly, stating, “Something has clearly gone wrong here and we’ve let you down. We’ll investigate what went wrong and share the details.”
An LNER spokesman added, “We are sorry to understand there has been an issue at London King’s Cross station on Monday evening. We are in the process of investigating this and are in contact with the customer directly.”
Alison Kerry, head of communications at disability equality charity Scope, commented on the incident, saying, “This is a sad reminder that far too often disabled people get treated like second-class citizens. On the eve of the Paralympics, it highlights how much further we need to go; it shouldn’t be this difficult for a wheelchair user to use public transport.”
The Department for Transport has been approached for comment on the matter.
