Disabled woman from Glasgow puts ScotRail on blast

Bridget Carson said she travelled from Shettleston in Glasgow's East End to Coatbridge's Blairhill on Sunday afternoon to visit her son for the special day. 

She booked her train with assisted service on the Tuesday before her trip but found there was no one there to install a ramp for her wheelchair, leaving her unable to disembark from the service. 

Having spoken to the driver on the intercom, despite her vocal chords being partially paralysed, the driver held up the train as long as he could and eventually got the ramp installed by someone in assistance. 

Bridget then found that the taxi ScotRail ordered for her didn't show up and no one was there to assist her onto a later train either. 

Instead, the grandmother was left isolated and disregarded.

Speaking with the Glasgow Times, the 56-year-old from Shettleston, said: "I left the train station in tears and just felt worthless.

"It totally knocked my confidence and made me hate being in a wheelchair even more.

"It's hard enough being disabled and it just puts me off using public transport.

"It makes me feel like a second-class citizen being disabled in any way and I'm just realising the barriers we face."

Even though this was Bridget's first experience of such nature with ScotRail, her disability has been overlooked numerous times before. 

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She said: "This is the first time I've experienced this type of situation with ScotRail, but I've gone through it several times before with buses and taxis. 

"I want public transport and taxis to start treating wheelchair users and people with any disability with the respect as an able-bodied person. 

"On that day, ScotRail were very incompetent. 

"They need to realise that mistakes like this are not just petty mistakes, they are a big issue for wheelchair users.

"I don't want to ever experience something like this again."

Following the experience, Bridget is now calling for changes to be made to the way public transport treats disabled people. 

She said: "Maybe trains should have automatic ramps installed, so that a wheelchair user or disabled person can push a button and a ramp is lowered."

Despite the 'disheartening' events on Sunday, Bridget did commend the train driver for his help. 

She said: "He did everything possible to help me out as I was unable to talk on the intercom due to my voice being so low.

"It's difficult for people to hear me and I'm very self-conscious about it. 

"But, he held the train as much as he could and sorted out the ramp for me." 

Bridget ended up having to go home, but eventually made it to her son's after he picked her up. 

Bridget sent two complaints to ScotRail following the incident but is still to hear back from them. 

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Phil Campbell, ScotRail Head of Customer Operations, told the Glasgow Times: "I was sorry to hear about Ms Carson’s experience when travelling with us last weekend.    

"Scotland's Railway is for everyone, and everyone should be able to travel with confidence.

"We’re investigating the details of this complaint to establish exactly what went wrong, and will respond to Ms Carson directly.”