Station staff laugh at disabled woman who crawled up steps
Jennie Berry filmed herself crawling up the stairs at Dalston Junction Overland Station on Thursday night (February 8) as the lifts were broken.
She had no prior warning that the lifts were out of order as there was no signage or staff at the station she’d left from to tell her she would “be stuck” at her destination.
Jennie, who runs a blog called the Wheelie Good Life, posted her experience on Instagram.
“I crawled up the stairs and staff appeared when I was 3 steps from the top. They informed me that the lift has been broken for a month & ‘didn’t you know?’,” she wrote.
“At the top of the 15 min climb, the lift technician decides to announce that he’s actually got the lift working.
“The two staff members behind me think this is hilarious and you can hear them laughing on the video about it.”
The station is operated by Arrival Rail London who operates the London Overground on Transport for London’s (TfL) behalf.
Jennie said her hotel was right outside this station but because it was late and raining she couldn’t face the prospect of getting back on a train going in the opposite direction to find another accessible station.
She added: “Tbh I’m more annoyed at how staff treated me than the actual fact I had to crawl up the stairs, as at this point I’m used to this level of inaccessibility.
“The way I’m treated always seems to surprise me the most.”
More than 3,000 people responded to her post.
One person tagged TfL saying: “This is absolutely disgusting and your staff should be ashamed of themselves at how they handled this situation.
“Your staff clearly haven’t had the correct training or education to support anyone in this situation never mind the fact it should never have happened in the first place. Shame on you! Do better!”
Screenshot of disabled Jennie Berry having crawled up the steps of Dalston Junction Overground on her bum as the lifts were broken (Image: Wheelie Good Life)
Mark Evers, TfL’s chief customer officer, said they were “deeply sorry for the distressing experience that Jennie Berry has while travelling with us” and were “urgently looking into this incident with Arrival Rail London” to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
“We understand that lifts being out of service can have a significant impact on customers who rely on them, and we are committed to making transport in London more accessible,” he added.
“We are also working harder to ensure that lifts are repaired quickly and that information about their availability is published promptly.
“I regret that in this instance the necessary information wasn’t readily available.”
Arrival Rail London has been contacted.