A disabled man says he missed a pal’s wedding because Southern rail workers would not help him get on board a train – by getting a disability ramp.
Wheelchair-bound Christoph Andrats begged staff at Clapham Junction station to help him make the very important journey – but he claims they ignored his please.
Christoph ended up missing the wedding entirely after being refused help to get on the train at the south London station, leaving him stranded on the platform
The 58-year-old was trying to get to a wedding in Battersea, south west London, on Saturday when he encountered two members of staff who delayed his journey by insisting he get on at the back of the train.
He said: “I asked a member of staff on the platform for assistance with a ramp to board a train.
“His response to my request was curt and unfriendly: ‘Next train’, with a jab of the finger in the direction of the track, and with that he disappeared.
“Then things got much worse.
“The train pulled in and I positioned myself by the door with the wheelchair logo, as I wanted to be placed in the wheelchair space on the train.
“The member of staff I had spoken to didn’t come with a ramp.
“I couldn’t see him until everyone had boarded, and then I saw that he was at the back of the train with the ramp.
“I waved to him. He refused to move. I pointed to the doors with the wheelchair logo.
“He shouted that I had to board at the back of the train, where there was no wheelchair space.
“Some of his colleagues told me that I had to get on at the back. I said no, I wished to travel in the wheelchair space.
“The man with the ramp did not budge, and kept gesturing me to come towards him.
“I did not want to travel in a part of the train without a wheelchair space because I do not consider this a safe or comfortable way to travel, so we reached an impasse.
“The man with the ramp let the train go, without me onboard.”
Retired Christoph also accuses the guard of refusing to give his name after it was requested three times and the he was not wearing a name badge.
A second member of staff told him he would have to get on the train where he was asked, not where he requested.
He added “The guard also make this extraordinary statement: ‘If you don’t know the rules, you shouldn’t come here’.
“This statement was too bizarre and silly to argue with, but it was also an act of intolerable rudeness.
“This second member of staff also refused to give his name and was not showing a name-badge.
“Later they put me onto a train, in the wheelchair space as I had requested at first, and I was able to make my journey at last.”
A Southern spokesman apologised for the way Christoph was treated, on Saturday, June 23.
He said: “We are very concerned to hear about our passenger’s experience at Clapham Junction station and apologise for this.
“We are investigating this fully and are currently liaising with our passenger.
“We pride ourselves on the levels of customer service we provide, and these interactions are certainly not what we would expect from any of our staff.”
