A wheelchair user has been left furious over claims a fellow wheelchair user was unable to travel because as luggage occupied the priority space on the train, reports Chronicle Live.
Transport campaigner, Doug Paulley, had paid for a first class ticket to travel on the 12.27pm LNER service from to York from Newcastle’s Central Station on March 9.
But the 42-year-old said he was “upset” when another wheelchair user was required to wait a further hour for the next train as he claims wheelchair spaces were occupied by passengers luggage.
Doug, who uses a wheelchair due to a stroke and autonomic failure which affects his nervous system, captured his experiences of boarding the train, which he later shared on his Twitter account.
He also posted a photograph of a designated wheelchair space on the carriage, which appears inaccessible due to a number of suitcases. The incident received a mixed response on Twitter, with some people expressing disappointment with LNER for asking the wheelchair user to leave the train.
“Disabled people shouldn’t be abandoned because it’s easier for able bodied people to put their bags in the wheelchair space than overhead.”
However, some people disagreed with Doug, with one user explaining: “If the people with luggage were there first, do you expect people to alight in order to make way? Is that using privilege?”
An LNER spokesperson, said: “We are sorry to hear claims a wheelchair user was unable to join one of our services on Monday 9 March 2020.
“We are committed to ensuring our stations and trains are accessible to everyone; therefore we are carrying out an investigation into this case.”
