A wheelchair user named Phoebe Tesoriere, 24, was left crying after being forced to crawl on her hands and knees through train carriages due to a lack of proper assistance at Bath Spa station in December 2025. Great Western Railway (GWR) initially assured her family that a ramp would be available when she arrived but failed to provide it. Instead, Phoebe had to move herself through three carriages to exit the train, causing significant distress and humiliation. The incident highlights ongoing issues with accessibility in UK public transport for disabled passengers.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.65, but 2 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 3 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 59589: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-06
- Published
A wheelchair user was left in tears as she crawled on her "hands and knees" through a train after being told a ramp could not be used to help her off.
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ramp → publish → her
Phoebe Tesoriere, 24, who lived in Caerphilly at the time, was on a Great Western Railway (GWR) train from London Paddington to Bath Spa when it happened.
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it → live → Spa
Her family spoke to the assistance desk and were taken to the only designated wheelchair space on the train.
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family → speak → train
Phoebe said she was assured a ramp and assistance would be waiting, but was told she was in a carriage beyond the platform and could not get off.
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she → say → platform
GWR said it was "really sorry" and admitted "we let her down, both when we helped her board and at several points during her journey".
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her → say → journey
Former Cardiff University student Phoebe, who has hereditary spastic paraplegia, external which causes weakness and stiffness in the leg muscles, said: "My mum specifically asked if a ramp and assistance would be waiting at Bath Spa.
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ramp → have → Spa
We were assured it would be.
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it → assure → ?
"
While on the train, staff checked which station she would be getting off at numerous times during the incident in December 2025, she added.
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she → check → December
Despite this, Phoebe was not told the carriage she was directed to would stop beyond the platform, leaving her unable to use a ramp to get off.
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she → tell → ramp
Phoebe and her parents had been returning to Bath, where she now lives, after attending a concert in London the night before, which she bought as a gift for her mum and dad before her diagnosis.
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she → return → diagnosis
When they got to Bath Spa, she said they were told by staff to stay on the train and get off at Bristol Temple Meads - a 15 to 20 minute journey - before buying another ticket back to Bath Spa so she could get off.
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she → get → Spa
The family explained this was not possible as Phoebe's grandparents were waiting at the station to pick them up and take her back to Caerphilly, where she was living at the time.
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she → explain → time
Phoebe said she was told by staff to try and get her wheelchair through the train aisle, but it did not fit so she crawled through three carriages.
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she → say → carriages
"I was crying.
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I → cry → ?
People were staring," she said.
"
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she → star → ?
One passenger reached down to stroke my back and apologised to me, telling me what was happening wasn't acceptable.
"
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happening → reach → me
She was trying to comfort me, but in that moment I felt like a dog."
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I → try → dog
Phoebe's mum Kirstin Tesoriere said watching the incident was "traumatic" and left her feeling "helpless".
"When I close my eyes I can still see it, the pity on other passengers' faces.
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I → say → faces
Phoebe said her parents lifted her back into her wheelchair to get off the train using the ramp, but staff were not waiting to assist her.
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staff → say → her
Phoebe wants to see a big improvement in accessible transport in the UK.
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Phoebe → want → UK
She said: "It's ridiculous that disabled passengers are still expected to go through this."
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passengers → say → this
Due to the nature of Phoebe's diagnosis, her condition is expected to get worse over time.
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condition → expect → time
Kirstin said she wanted to "make lovely memories" with her daughter but that the family had not used public transport since the incident.
"She's just scared now and she's already lost so much to her diagnosis," she said.
"
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she → say → diagnosis
You just want your children to be happy."
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children → want → ?
Phoebe made a formal complaint to GWR on the day it happened, but the investigation was not completed until May.
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investigation → make → May
In its response, the train company admitted Phoebe's experience was "extremely poor" and took accountability for what went wrong.
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what → admit → accountability
It confirmed Phoebe would receive compensation but, despite sending her bank details as requested, she has still not received any money and said GWR had "ignored every email I have sent" since June.
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I → confirm → June
"Nearly nine months after I complained, I am still fighting to get an answer.
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I → complain → answer
No disabled passenger should ever have to crawl."
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passenger → have → ?
Kirstin said she understood "mistakes were made" but believes her daughter has been treated "inexcusably" since then.
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daughter → say → ?
"I can't forgive them for how they've made an awful traumatic experience last for months," she added.
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she → forgive → months
In emails seen by BBC Wales, GWR said it had made changes to "how we manage passenger assist for customers travelling from London Paddington" as a result of Phoebe's complaint.
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we → see → complaint
It said: "There were opportunities for us to recognise that there would be an issue at Bath Spa, and we failed to identify them.
"
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we → say → them
In my view, the situation you were placed in - and your subsequent action to leave the train - was entirely avoidable.
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you → place → train
"Put simply, this should not have happened.
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this → put → ?
I am truly sorry for the distressing and uncomfortable experience you had when leaving the service."
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you → have → service
In response to BBC Wales, GWR said: "We are really sorry.
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We → say → Wales
Ms Tesoriere should have been able to travel with confidence and dignity and we let her down, both when we helped her board and at several points during her journey where we had opportunities to put it right.
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we → travel → it
We have apologised to her personally and have made improvements to how we support customers boarding at London Paddington, so no-one else goes through this."
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one → apologise → this
Regarding her compensation, a spokesman added that the company was "doing everything we can to complete the final steps as quickly as possible".
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we → regard → steps
The Aporia
