Disabled woman ‘humiliated’ as station staff thought she was drunk

5 comments

1. Opinion: This train company (Merseyrail, based in Liverpool and the surrounding area) hires private security forces to patrol their trains looking for passengers to privately prosecute (the same mechanism the post office used against postmasters). They allegedly pay these forces a commission per offence they report so they are encouraged to drag out minor issues. There are a handful of stories of these gaurds getting out of hand, like the one above. In contrast, Merseyrail operates under a zero-tolerance policy against their passengers. If you make a mistake, you _will_ be punished, harshly.

   In my view, Merseyrail are a terrible company. If you’re ever in Liverpool, take the bus. It is a longer ride, but it’s cheaper and you can avoid a train company that has gotten drunk off of private prosecution.

2. “In this particular case, we are satisfied that a senior manager when asked by a colleague, reassessed the situation and cleared the passenger to travel. The passenger was accompanied to the platform to ensure she safely boarded her train. We are committed to the best care possible for our passengers and apologise for any upset that may have been caused.” – Merseyrail.

   Whilst obvious unpleasant and upsetting for her – people *do* make mistakes – and if Merseyrail are to be believed they rectified it on the day and helped her onto the train.

3. Not seeing the issue here, so what if she was drunk?

4. I’m so sure a bloke had this exact problem a few weeks ago…

5. So humiliated she was to bring even more attention to it by running to the press.