Deb's Story:

How many of us walk around and jump on a bus, tube, or train without even thinking about it? I used to do just that until a brain injury last year left me having to use a wheelchair to get around.

I can no longer just get a train or tube to whatever station I want as most do not have wheelchair access. 

Getting on a bus is sometimes OK as most have good ramps that are easy to get up as a manual wheelchair user. However, there are some, including the nee 111 bus fleet that have extremely short and steep ramps that are impossible to get up without assistance from either a friend or even a stranger at times.

This is unacceptable in these times and causes anxiety, frustration, and even great embarrassment. Life is hard enough without everyday human rights being taken away from you because of a disability.

Ellis's Story:

Having suffered a spinal cord injury, I’ve had to adapt my lifestyle a lot. 

Usually we book assistance beforehand then we get there to station staff who take out a ramp, help me onto the train, then call ahead to wherever I’m getting off so they’re ready to help at the destination. We’ve had a few hitches in the past, but normally it all works well.

On one particular day, we were informed that there were no station staff so there was no one to operate the ramp to get me onto the train and they weren't sure if the station we needed to go to was accessible.

The manager however had a key to the ramp, so he got it out just as the train arrived. I had to instruct him how to place the ramp, as he’d clearly never done it before. He got me on the train and would call ahead to Peckham Rye to have assistance ready to get me off.

The problem was that we got to Peckham Rye, and there wasn’t anyone there. The driver was too far away to talk to, it would take too long, so kind passers by held the doors and helped me sit on the floor of the train, lift myself onto the platform floor, then get back into my chair. The woman on the door explained that she was pretty sure there wasn’t a lift and I’d be stuck on the platform, but I was already off, had booked a taxi from this station, and would probably be late to my hospital admission if I got back on.

The train went off and a station worker approached, telling us he’d had no contact about my arrival and there wasn’t a lift or anything to get me down the several flights of stairs. So there was nothing for it, I had to transfer onto the floor and shuffle down one staircase and then the next. The station staff were kind and expressed that it shouldn’t have happened, but it did. Passers by expressed concern and whether or not they could help, but there was nothing they could do.

That’s the reality of being disabled in this day and age. There are adaptations in place, but not enough so we can truly go about our lives properly. We have to plan, and contact, and still it doesn’t go right. This isn’t the only time such things have occurred, nor will it be the last. I hope at least that by joining others in sharing my stories that the world can become a more accessible and better place.

Today has given me a major knock to my confidence, I felt humiliated as I shuffled down those stairs. The whole journey it felt like I was a problem that needed to be solved. And you know what it’s true, it is a problem, but it isn’t my fault!

Please sign and let TFL and all public transport companies know this needs to change. More accessible train and tube stations, and better ramps on buses!!!