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Blogger calls for back-up plan after train delays

Chris Whitaker Chris Whitaker, with short fair hair and a close cropped beard, wearing rectangular steel-rimmed glasses, and a grey jumper, smiling at the cameraChris Whitaker
Chris Whitaker called for "a viable plan B back-up" by train networks for passengers with disabilities

A blogger with limited mobility has called for "a viable plan B back-up" by train networks for passengers with disabilities when services are unexpectedly disrupted.

Chris Whitaker's journey from London King's Cross to Cambridge should have taken him an hour, but on Sunday it took four hours, via St Pancras and Farringdon, forcing him to walk beyond his strength in the process.

"The heroine of the story", a member of Farringdon's staff called Priscilla, arranged a taxi to take him to his home station, but he asked: "How many more people with disabilities have to have these experiences for things to improve?"

LNER has been contacted for comment.

Getty Images Outside King's Cross railway station in London, showing a yellow brick-built building, with two very large glazed arches into the station, a tower in the middle with a clock, and people walking in front of the station on a grey striped public squareGetty Images
Mr Whitaker wants all rail staff trained to support passengers with disabilities and "flexibility in the network", so "if things do go wrong there's a viable plan B back-up"

The 41-year-old public sector worker, who has cerebral palsy and uses a stick to help him walk, said: "This is why I've cut back on 80% of my train journeys - when it goes wrong it goes very wrong."

Mr Whitaker, from Haddenham near Ely, Cambridgeshire, live-tweeted his experiences on X, in part to make sure he had a record of what had gone wrong.

He arrived at King's Cross at 18:00 BST to find that many of the trains had been cancelled after a broken rail caused major disruption.

The London station's "turn up and go" assistance team told him services would be going from the adjacent St Pancras Station, but were unable to provide him with a wheelchair to take him to the station.

"I can walk only very short distances - and even those are tiring," he said.

"But I thought, at least I can sit down on the train."

At St Pancras, staff told him there was no step-free access to the train and advised him to take a train to Farringdon - which is a step-free journey - to catch the next train to Cambridge North from there.

Chris Whitaker Chris Whitaker, with short fair hair and a close cropped beard, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and striped tie, smiling at the camera, sitting in at a long white clothed dining room, with two more long tables set for a meal behind him in a panelled roomChris Whitaker
The blogger, who is married to the Paralympian swimmer Fran Williamson, said he has cut back on most of his rail travel due to such incidents

Once there, he found he had just missed the train, there was no wheelchair to take him to the right platform and shortly after the next service home was cancelled.

By this stage "everything ached", he was tired and thirsty, but one of Farringdon Station's assistance team emerged as "the heroine of this story, she was amazing".

"I asked if Priscilla if she could get me a bottle of water, she said none was available, so instead she brought me a glass of water - it was the first really human interaction of the story."

On hearing what had happened to him, she booked the taxi to take him to Cambridge North, where he collected his car, arriving at his rural home at 10:45.

Mr Whitaker said he went public with the saga because this sort of situation keeps happening to travellers with disabilities.

"If Priscilla was the standard, I wouldn't be talking to you - but currently it's Groundhog Day - and praise for Priscilla," he said.

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