Network
rail@bauermedia.co.uk
“I just feel like my freedom is taken away. Every journey is hard. When things go wrong, it makes you feel… disabled. There is nothing you can do to help yourself.”
On January 20, Sarah Gifford attempted a return journey from her home on the South Coast to London Victoria, using Southern Railway.
Her normal route from Worthing was not possible, due to planned engineering work. Southern suggested changing at Three Bridges instead. But the lifts at Three Bridges were not working, so as a wheelchair user, that option was not available.
Instead, Gifford would need to travel on a different route, from a different station -Ford via Horsham. Southern then told her that the lifts at Horsham were also out of order.
For her return journey, she was instead advised to travel from London Victoria to Clapham Junction, then from Clapham to Gatwick, from Gatwick to Southampton Central, and from there all the way back along the coast to Ford.
This would more than double the journey time and distance, because of broken lifts making platforms inaccessible.
“During this conversation, I explained that I was uncomfortable with the number of additional changes and the distance I was being asked to divert. I was placed on ‘hold’ multiple times and was told this was the only option.
“It turns out the lifts at Southampton Central were also out of order that day, so the alternative route would not have been accessible either.
“Through stress and disappointment, I became overwhelmed and tearful. It was only at this point I was told: ‘Don’t get emotional’ and was offered a taxi instead from Gatwick to Ford.” Gifford teaches at a secondary school. A wheelchair user for a year, she had been able-bodied until COVID left her with damage to her nervous system and unable to walk. Previously, she was able to travel unhindered, so the obstacles placed in her way by the railway are new to her.
The journey to London got worse: “When I arrived at Horsham, no assistance came to help me off the train. As a result, all other passengers were waiting for the connecting train ahead of me. Once all the able-bodied passengers were on, it was announced the train was full and standing. I had no choice but to wait for the next train.”
The story of her journey home again did not end with a taxi waiting for her at Gatwick, as it should have done.
“The 2011 terminated at Horsham instead of at Gatwick Airport. This was not communicated until we were approaching Horsham. Nobody came to get me off the train. I was left with no assistance onto the connecting train, whic
