February 11, 2024, 15:32 | Updated: February 11, 2024, 15:38
A wheelchair user had to crawl up the stairs at London Overground station on his butt.
Photo: Instagram/wheelie_good_life
A 29-year-old wheelchair user had to crawl up the stairs at a London Underground station after the lift broke down.
Jenny Berry had to limp up the stairs one by one at Dalston Junction station on Thursday night after receiving no advance warning that the elevators were down.
When she reached the final step, she could hear the staff laughing. The elevator was then working and she was told that she could use the elevator if she wanted.
Frustrated, Berry filmed the 15-minute climb and shared the footage online, writing: “Last night we arrived at Dalston Junction quite late with no prior warning that the lift was broken. .
“The station staff at the departure station saw me going to the remaining three stations’ platforms, but they didn’t ask me where I was going.
“There was no whiteboard or other signage to let me know I would be stuck at the station I was trying to get to.
“I arrived at Dalston Junction and there was no one around to take care of me. My hotel was literally right outside the station, it was late at night and it was pouring rain.
“There was no thought of getting back on the train, going in the exact opposite direction, finding another accessible station, then finding a working elevator, and then figuring out how to get home in a strange land.” I didn’t have the time or energy to do it.
“When I crawled up the stairs, a staff member appeared three steps from the top. I was told that the elevator had been out of order for a month, and he said, “Didn’t you know?”
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She continued: “At the top of the 15-minute climb, the lift technician decided to announce that the lift was actually moving. The two staff members behind me thought this was funny and you can hear their laughter in the video. I can hear you.”
“I literally just wanted to get back to the hotel before a busy day like everyone else.
“As a disabled person, this is common and I am lucky to have this, but there are many others who are not.
”[To be honest] I’m more annoyed by the staff’s treatment of me than the actual fact that I have to crawl up the stairs. Because at this point, we’re used to this level of difficulty in access. How I’m always treated seems to surprise me the most. ”
Mark Evers, TfL’s chief customer officer, said: “We are deeply sorry for the distressing experience that Jenny Berry had while traveling with us and would like to thank Arrival, who runs London Overground on our behalf. “We are urgently investigating this incident with Rail London.” , and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“We understand that elevator outages can have a significant impact on customers who use lifts, and we are committed to making transport in London more accessible.
“We are also working harder to repair elevators quickly and to quickly release information about elevator availability.
“In this case, we regret that the information we needed was not available sooner.”