Wheelchair user forced to crawl through train carriages after GWR assistance failure

A 24-year-old wheelchair user was reduced to tears after being forced to crawl on her hands and knees through a Great Western Railway train when staff told her a ramp could not be used to help her disembark at Bath Spa station, it has emerged.

Phoebe Tesoriere, who lived in Caerphilly at the time of the incident in December 2025, was travelling from London Paddington when the failure occurred. She has hereditary spastic paraplegia, a genetic condition that causes progressive weakness and stiffness in the leg muscles, and relies on a wheelchair for mobility.

The ordeal began when Phoebe's family approached the assistance desk before boarding and were directed to the only designated wheelchair space on the train. According to Phoebe, her mother specifically asked whether a ramp and staff assistance would be waiting when they arrived at Bath Spa, and the family was assured that arrangements had been made.

However, as the train approached Bath Spa, staff repeatedly checked which station Phoebe would be leaving at, yet failed to inform her that the carriage she had been placed in would stop beyond the usable platform area. This meant no ramp could be deployed to help her exit the train safely.

Phoebe and her parents had been returning from a concert in London the previous evening — a trip she had purchased as a Christmas gift for her mother and father before her diagnosis. Her grandparents were waiting at Bath Spa station to collect the family and drive Phoebe back to Caerphilly, where she was living at the time.

When the train arrived at Bath Spa, staff instructed the family to remain onboard and travel onward to Bristol Temple Meads, a further 15 to 20 minutes away, before purchasing new tickets back to Bath Spa so that Phoebe could disembark using a ramp at that station. The family explained this would not be possible because of the arrangements already in place with Phoebe's grandparents.

Staff then suggested Phoebe attempt to manoeuvre her wheelchair through the train's aisle, but the chair was too wide to fit between the seats. With no other option available, Phoebe crawled through three carriages to reach an exit.

"I was crying. People were staring," she said. "One passenger reached down to stroke my back and apologised to me, telling me what was happening wasn't acceptable. She was trying to comfort me, but in that moment I felt like a dog."

Phoebe's mother, Kirstin Tesoriere, described witnessing the incident as traumatic and said it left her feeling helpless. "When I close my eyes I can still see it, the pity on other passengers' faces. It was humiliating for her," she said.

Eventually, Phoebe's parents physically lifted her back into her wheelchair so she could exit the train using the ramp, but she said no staff members were present to assist them.

Great Western Railway has since issued an apology, stating it was "really sorry" and acknowledging that "we let her down, both when we helped her board and at several points during her journey." The company admitted that Phoebe's experience was "extremely poor" and took accountability for what went wrong.

Phoebe lodged a formal complaint with GWR on the same day as the incident, but the investigation was not completed until May — nearly five months later. In its response, the company confirmed she would receive compensation for the failure.

However, despite providing her bank details as requested, Phoebe says she has still not received any payment. She 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 Tesoriere said she accepts that mistakes were made on the day but believes her daughter has been treated inexcusably in the months since. "I can't forgive them for how they've made an awful traumatic experience last for months," she added.

Phoebe, a former Cardiff University student, now lives in Bath. She said she wants to see significant improvements in accessible transport across the UK. "It's ridiculous that disabled passengers are still expected to go through this," she said.

Due to the progressive nature of her condition, Phoebe's mobility is expected to deteriorate over time. Her mother said she had hoped to create enjoyable memories with her daughter, but the family has avoided public transport entirely 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."

The case highlights ongoing concerns about the reliability of assisted travel arrangements on Britain's rail network. While train operators are legally required to provide accessible facilities and assistance for disabled passengers, campaigners argue that failures remain commonplace and that complaint processes are often slow and inadequate.

For Phoebe, the physical and emotional toll of the incident continues to affect her daily life. She said people often assume "everything is accessible these days, but it really isn't," and she hopes her experience will prompt GWR and other operators to review their procedures so that no other passenger faces a similar ordeal.