Disabled Woman Says She Crawled Through Three Train Carriages After GWR Accessibility Failure

A wheelchair user has described being reduced to tears as she crawled on her hands and knees through a train after staff told her a ramp could not be used to help her disembark. Phoebe Tesoriere, 24, who lived in Caerphilly at the time of the incident, was travelling on a Great Western Railway service from London Paddington to Bath Spa when the failure occurred.

The incident, which took place in December 2025, has now prompted a formal complaint and a lengthy dispute with the train operator over both the treatment Phoebe received and the company's subsequent handling of her case. According to the account given by Phoebe and her family, the journey began with an assurance that appropriate assistance would be arranged at her destination.

Phoebe's family spoke to the assistance desk before boarding and were directed to the only designated wheelchair space on the train. Phoebe said she was assured that a ramp and assistance would be waiting for her when she arrived at Bath Spa. Her mother, Kirstin Tesoriere, specifically asked staff whether a ramp and help would be available at the station, and the family was told it would be.

While on board, Phoebe said, staff checked which station she would be getting off at on numerous occasions. Despite this, she was not informed that the carriage she had been directed to would stop beyond the platform, a detail that would ultimately leave her unable to use a ramp to leave the train.

Phoebe has hereditary spastic paraplegia, a condition that causes weakness and stiffness in the leg muscles. She is a former Cardiff University student and now lives in Bath. The trip to London had been a Christmas gift for her parents, and the family had attended a concert in the capital the night before. They were returning to Bath when the problem arose.

When the train reached Bath Spa, Phoebe said staff told the family to remain on board and get off at Bristol Temple Meads instead, a further 15 to 20 minutes down the line, before buying another ticket back to Bath Spa so that she could disembark. The family explained that this was not possible because Phoebe's grandparents were waiting at Bath Spa station to collect them and drive her back to Caerphilly, where she was living at the time.

Phoebe said staff then suggested she try to manoeuvre her wheelchair through the train aisle, but the chair did not fit. With no other option available, she crawled through three carriages. "I was crying. People were staring," she said, describing the humiliation of the experience.

She recalled that one passenger reached down to stroke her back and apologised, telling her that what was happening was not acceptable. "She was trying to comfort me, but in that moment I felt like a dog," Phoebe said.

Her mother described watching the episode 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," Kirstin Tesoriere said. Phoebe's parents eventually lifted her back into her wheelchair so she could get off the train using the ramp, but no staff were waiting to assist her.

Great Western Railway responded to the incident by saying it was "really sorry" and admitting that "we let her down, both when we helped her board and at several points during her journey." The company acknowledged the treatment Phoebe received and accepted accountability for what went wrong.

Phoebe submitted a formal complaint to GWR on the day of the incident, but the investigation was not completed until May. In its response, the train company described her experience as "extremely poor." It confirmed that Phoebe would receive compensation, and she provided her bank details as requested. However, she said she has still not received any money and that GWR has "ignored every email I have sent" since June.

"Nearly nine months after I complained, I am still fighting to get an answer. No disabled passenger should ever have to crawl," Phoebe said. She added that people often believe "everything is accessible these days, but it really isn't," and she is calling for a significant improvement in accessible transport across the UK, describing it as ridiculous that disabled passengers are still expected to endure such ordeals.

Kirstin said she understood that mistakes were made 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 said. She added that she wanted to make lovely memories with her daughter, but the family has not used public transport 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."

Because of the nature of Phoebe's diagnosis, her condition is expected to deteriorate over time, making reliable and dignified access to public transport increasingly important for her and for other passengers with mobility needs. The case highlights longstanding concerns about the consistency of assisted travel arrangements on the rail network, particularly when station infrastructure, carriage design and staffing fail to align with the needs of disabled passengers.

The incident also raises questions about how train operators handle complaints and compensation once a failure has been acknowledged. For Phoebe, the initial accessibility breakdown has been compounded by what she describes as months of being unable to obtain a resolution, leaving her still waiting for both the compensation she was promised and a satisfactory answer to her complaint.