Tanni Grey-Thompson forced to 'crawl off' train

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson was forced to "crawl off" an LNER train arriving at London's King's Cross.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the 11-time Paralympic gold medallist said she had initially booked assistance to help her off the 19:15 train from Leeds, but missed it and instead travelled on the 19:45.

She said she should have been helped off but after waiting for 20 minutes, no one arrived so she had to try to disembark herself.

LNER has said it is investigating what happened and said it was "sorry to understand there was an issue" at the station.

Baroness Grey-Thompson, who lives in Stockton, Teesside, said: "There was no one there to meet me and I waited five minutes before putting anything on social media because you're meant to leave five minutes. After 16 minutes of waiting at King's Cross, there was no one in sight.

"There were a couple of cleaners but they're not insured or able to help me off. So I decided that I would crawl off the train.

"I'm going to Paris later today, I've got a few bags. I chucked them on the platform, I had to get out of my chair, sit on the floor by the door which is not pleasant and then crawl off."

Although she went on the later train, she "had a contract" to be met at the other end.

The former Paralympian said she waited for 20 minutes at the station before having to disembark herself

"Legally I am allowed to turn up and ask to get on a train.

"We were meant to have level boarding in the UK on 1 January 2020 under the Disability and Discrimination Act but government has kicked the can down the road.

"I can just about get off the train if I need to, but there are loads of people that can't.

"I can't really crawl but sit on the floor and drag my legs. There was no one around and I was very angry last night.

"If the train manager hadn't seen me crawling off, I would have had to pull the emergency cord and I would have delayed the train going north."

An LNER spokesperson said: "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."

The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 required that all trains were to be made accessible by 2020, but many carriages still do not comply with the rules.

Alison Kerry, head of communications at disability equality charity Scope, said Baroness Grey-Thompson's experience "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," she added.

The Department for Transport has been approached for comment.