Latest news with #AnnaLandre
The Independent
21-05-2025
- The Independent
Wheelchair user misses train and branded ‘rude' by station staff after they refused to get ramp
A wheelchair user missed her train when staff refused to assist her with a ramp and called her 'rude' after she complained. Anna Landre, 26, had planned to travel to Cambridge from London Liverpool Street on Sunday, but was forced to cancel her plans when station staff were 'too busy' to help her on the train. She arrived at the station 15 minutes before her train was set to leave at 11am and went to the information desk to let them know which train she was getting and that she would need a ramp. 'Some stations are excellent, and you can arrive like any other non-disabled person five minutes before the train and they're happy, whereas others look at you and say, no, you're not here 30 minutes before, and won't even try,' the PhD student told the Independent. It got to five minutes before her train was scheduled to leave, and she was told the staff were 'really busy' and would not be able to help her. Ms Landre remained hopeful that platform or onboard staff would be able to help. However, she was told they did not have any ramp keys and could not assist her. When a member of staff from Liverpool Street Station eventually arrived to help her, it was too late and she missed the train. Frustrated, but still hopeful she could get the next train in 30 minutes, Ms Landre went back to the desk to request assistance again. Passengers with a disability can book assistance before they travel – like buying a ticket in advance, but this fails around a quarter of the time, Caroline Stickland, CEO of Transport for All explained. An alternative is 'Turn Up and Go', which allows people to simply arrive at the station and ask for assistance. 'Turn Up and Go can be piecemeal. Only 11 per cent of stations are staffed all the time, which can make turning up and going quite challenging,' Ms Stickland added. A few minutes after Ms Landre missed her train, a member of staff came over to ask if she had pre-booked assistance. 'I explained that I have the right to turn up and go, but he kept explaining that they were very busy and have to help people who are booked first,' Ms Landre said. 'I told him, I know my rights. I know the law. I don't need a lecture on it. He just kept going and I said it again. I'm just waiting for the next train, and he really didn't like that and said I was rude, and he would not help me.' The member of staff went to his manager, who then told Ms Landre she understood she was rude to a member of staff and was frustrated. Although Ms Landre agreed that she was frustrated for missing a train, she did not believe she was rude. Minutes later another manager stepped in with two security guards and Ms Landre claims she was told they would not be providing assistance to her, leaving Ms Landre no option but to cancel her plans and go home. A Network Rail spokesperson said: 'We are really sorry that Ms Landre had this experience when using our station. 'Our director for the Anglia region, which includes responsibility for Liverpool Street station, spoke with Ms Landre this morning and personally apologised for her experience. 'Our aim is to provide a positive experience for each and every passenger and she should never have been denied assistance to board a train and we know we let her down.' Network Rail will now be launching an investigation into what went wrong but for Ms Landre, the ordeal has left her feeling anxious to travel. 'I think for most wheelchair users traveling is very anxiety-inducing because the system fails us so frequently. Then we're painted as the irrational, anxious or unreasonable ones for reacting in a very rational way,' she said. Ms Landre explained she avoids taking trains to work or university because the 'Turn Up and Go' system is 'unreliable'. 'It's such an overlying just burden and cloud over a life that is already challenging because of the additional logistics necessary to live in an inaccessible world,' she said. Ms Stickland said: 'We all want the freedom to travel when we need to, but disabled people are often blocked from that by inaccessible stations and information. 'We hear about horrific experiences like Anna's every single day, but they are not recorded anywhere official. 'Companies have targets around leaves on the line or how many minutes late trains are, but nobody's measuring how often disabled people are stranded - we are erased from the data.'
The Independent
20-05-2025
- The Independent
‘I was unable to travel and called rude when station staff refused to assist me with a ramp'
A wheelchair user missed her train when staff refused to assist her with a ramp and called her 'rude' after she complained. Anna Landre, 26, had planned to travel to Cambridge from London Liverpool Street on Sunday, but was forced to cancel her plans when station staff were 'too busy' to help her on the train. She arrived at the station 15 minutes before her train was set to leave at 11am and went to the information desk to let them know which train she was getting and that she would need a ramp. 'Some stations are excellent, and you can arrive like any other non-disabled person five minutes before the train and they're happy, whereas others look at you and say, no, you're not here 30 minutes before, and won't even try,' the PhD student said. It got to five minutes before her train was scheduled to leave, and she was told the staff were 'really busy' and would not be able to help her. Ms Landre remained hopeful that platform or onboard staff would be able to help. However, she was told they did not have any ramp keys and could not assist her. When a member of staff from Liverpool Street Station eventually arrived to help her, it was too late and she missed the train. Frustrated, but still hopeful she could get the next train in 30 minutes, Ms Landre went back to the desk to request assistance again. Passengers with a disability can book assistance before they travel – like buying a ticket in advance, but this fails around a quarter of the time, Caroline Stickland, CEO of Transport for All explained. An alternative is 'Turn Up and Go', which allows people to simply arrive at the station and ask for assistance. 'Turn Up and Go can be piecemeal. Only 11 per cent of stations are staffed all the time, which can make turning up and going quite challenging,' Ms Stickland added. A few minutes after Ms Landre missed her train, a member of staff came over to ask if she had pre-booked assistance. 'I explained that I have the right to turn up and go, but he kept explaining that they were very busy and have to help people who are booked first,' Ms Landre said. 'I told him, I know my rights. I know the law. I don't need a lecture on it. He just kept going and I said it again. I'm just waiting for the next train, and he really didn't like that and said I was rude, and he would not help me.' The member of staff went to his manager, who then told Ms Landre she understood she was rude to a member of staff and was frustrated. Although Ms Landre agreed that she was frustrated for missing a train, she did not believe she was rude. Minutes later another manager stepped in with two security guards and Ms Landre claims she was told they would not be providing assistance to her, leaving Ms Landre no option but to cancel her plans and go home. A Network Rail spokesperson said: 'We are really sorry that Ms Landre had this experience when using our station. 'Our director for the Anglia region, which includes responsibility for Liverpool Street station, spoke with Ms Landre this morning and personally apologised for her experience. 'Our aim is to provide a positive experience for each and every passenger and she should never have been denied assistance to board a train and we know we let her down.' Network Rail will now be launching an investigation into what went wrong but for Ms Landre, the ordeal has left her feeling anxious to travel. 'I think for most wheelchair users traveling is very anxiety-inducing because the system fails us so frequently. Then we're painted as the irrational, anxious or unreasonable ones for reacting in a very rational way,' she said. Ms Landre explained she avoids taking trains to work or university because the 'Turn Up and Go' system is 'unreliable'. 'It's such an overlying just burden and cloud over a life that is already challenging because of the additional logistics necessary to live in an inaccessible world,' she said. Ms Stickland said: 'We all want the freedom to travel when we need to, but disabled people are often blocked from that by inaccessible stations and information. 'We hear about horrific experiences like Anna's every single day, but they are not recorded anywhere official. 'Companies have targets around leaves on the line or how many minutes late trains are, but nobody's measuring how often disabled people are stranded - we are erased from the data.'
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Disability activist left in tears stranded on a train platform after station staff 'called her rude and repeatedly refused to get a ramp'
A tearful disability activist has claimed she was left stranded on a train platform after rail staff branded her 'rude' and denied her vital ramp access. Anna Landre, a wheelchair user, was set to travel from London 's Liverpool Street station on May 18. Arriving 'several minutes before' her train was due to depart, the 25-year-old said that she had enquired with members of staff about a ramp, vital in order for her to be able to board the train. However, Ms Landre, who lives with spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic disease, was immediately informed that was deemed to be of 'lower priority' than other passengers who had pre-booked a form of assistance. Describing the interaction as 'very abled-mansplaining', Ms Landre took to X to outline the stressful ordeal, adding: 'I firmly but politely told him that I know the law and did not need a lecture. 'He continued on and I repeated myself and said I was just looking to the next train since they'd failed to bring the ramp for the original one.' To Ms Landre's dismay, the member of staff then outright refused to assist her any further, branding her as 'rude'. Then, after speaking with another, she presumed to be more senior staff member, the American activist was told that, given accusations of her 'rude' nature, she would be denied ramp assistance by 'any' staff member in the station. Ms Landre, who moved to the UK three years ago after studying in Washington DC, was banned from boarding any trains from Liverpool Street Station and eventually forced to return home. Firmly denying any allegations of rudeness, Ms Landre added: 'I believe this able bodied man did not enjoy a young disabled woman speaking assertively back to him in the same tone he was using. 'And regardless, 'rudeness' is not the standard for denial of ramp assistance. Abusiveness is, and I was certainly not that.' Following the harsh conversation, Ms Landre admitted that she was even brought to tears, feeling 'so powerless and victimised' by the unapologetic rail staff. Having since requested body cam footage of the interaction, she said: 'The fact is, disabled people reacting with anything other than gratefulness and deference for being granted basic human dignity is often perceived as rudeness. 'The power nondisabled people have over our lives to enforce that dynamic is extraordinary. 'No trains for me today.' Social media users were quick to express their utter outrage at Ms Landre's seeming mistreatment by staff, with one branding it 'absolutely disgraceful', while another described it as a 'despicable power play'. One commenter, who described the denial of service as 'absolutely appalling', added: 'They work in customer service, they should be trained to deal with 'rude' people (not saying you were) and it is certainly not a reason to deny you assistance. They should have been apologising for not having the ramp there in the first place.' A Network Rail spokesperson said that Ms Landre's incident was being investigated 'as a matter of urgency'. They added: 'We want to make our stations as accessible as possible to all of our passengers and we're sorry to hear about the issues one of our passengers experienced at Liverpool Street station today.' MailOnline has contacted Ms Landre for comment. Her experience comes less than a year after Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson reported being forced to crawl off a train after rail staff refused to help her. The gold-medal-winning Paralympian, 55, said she arrived into London King's Cross station at around 10pm in August last year and that there were no workers there to help her. The wheelchair racing champion, who is now a House of Lords crossbench peer, was on the 7.45pm service and had praised rail staff who kept checking on whether or not she needed food. The train got into the station just after 10pm, and she posted: 'Hey LNER my train has arrived at KGX and there is no one to get me off.' And just minutes later: 'Cleaning crew are on board.' And then: 'Cleaning crew are now leaving the train!!!!' The Baroness continued posting, desperately trying to find out who could help her. She wrote: 'LNER who do I need to call to get off this train!!! It got to KGX 10 mins ago!!!!!' At 10.24pm she said she'd had to crawl off the train. She posted on X: 'Well I've just crawled off. 'At 22.17 (train got in at 22.02) I decided to crawl off. Had to move all my stuff onto the platform. Member of cleaning staff offered to help. They're not insured.' In response, LNER apologised, with a spokesperson stating: 'We are sorry to understand there has been an issue at London King's Cross station on Monday evening. 'We are in the process of investigating this and are in contact with the customer directly.' LNER's Managing Director David Horne also replied to Lady Tanni's post, saying: 'My sincere apologies for this Tanni. 'Something has clearly gone wrong here and we've let you down. We'll investigate what went wrong and share the details.' In August 2024, Ms Landre was also left in tears after she was unable to collect her Freedom of the City of London award on stage as there was no ramp at the ceremony. Describing the incident as 'absurd', she claimed it was an example of the 'access roulette' disabled people are forced to face in everyday life. According to the wheelchair user, organisers were aware she would be attending the event and assured her there would be wheelchair access. But instead the researcher and consultant was made to 'quietly accept my Freedom of the City from the floor beneath the stage'. A City of London Corporation spokesperson said: 'The City of London Corporation would like to offer our sincerest apologies to Anna Landre for the inaccessible stage upon receiving her Freedom award. The City of London Corporation is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and we are undertaking an urgent review to ensure accessibility at our buildings, facilities and events.'
