Tanyalee Davis and her partner Kevin Bolden were travelling from Plymouth to Norwich on a Great Western Railway (GWR) service on Sunday 15th July 2018.
The train guard made her move so that a woman could put her pram in the wheelchair area. The guard then went on to publicly announce over the train tannoy: “We're going to be stopping in Taunton indefinitely because the woman in the mobility scooter is causing problems."
Tanyalee was reduced to tears after the experience and it highlights the problems disabled travellers have when travelling by train.
Ms Davis has dwafism and relies on her specially modified mobility scooter to get around as she cannot walk long distances.
She added: “I'm just trying to make a living and get around the country.
Tanyalee said “When he announced it, it was so embarrassing. I had to sit there for the next two hours crying.
“He threatened to call the police and have us arrested because we were videotaping him.”
Great Western Railway (GWR) said the incident “should not have happened” and has apologised to Ms Davis.
“GWR wants to apologise but that's not the point here - there's a bigger picture about whether or not to classify mobility scooters as the same as wheelchairs,” she said.
“An apology is not enough - it's fine to say 'sorry it shouldn't have happened' - but I have now been hearing other people's stories saying they had a very similar situation in a mobility scooter or a blind person.
“It's not just about GWR, it's transport in general across the UK and for me personally getting some sort of change in classification with mobility scooters and not trying to make us seem like we're not disabled.”
She said that, despite arranging for assistance at stations, there is often no staff to help and she is left “at the mercy of other people”.
“I want to get the word out there and talk to more people who can facilitate some change,” she added.
A Great Western Railway spokesman said “no one travelling with us should be left feeling like this” and added: “This should not have happened, and we have been in touch with Tanyalee to apologise directly".
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