A wheelchair user was trapped on a train after staff failed to turn up with a ramp even though he had booking assistance.
BBC Online reported that Josh Hamilton ended up travelling on the service until it terminated because he could not get off at his stop at Benfleet in Essex.
Mr Hamilton told reporters he was “dreading” travelling by rail again.
Train operator c2c has apologised but said staff were not available because of disruption at the station.
Mr Hamilton, who works in IT, was returning from a shopping trip to London with his wife and their two young children when the train arrived at Benfleet.
He told the BBC: “The doors opened and everybody’s running off the train and there was no-one standing there with the ramp for me.
“There was no-one there to talk to or to do anything and before you know it, the train starts leaving and then you realise that you don’t know where you’re getting off because no-one knows that you’re coming.”
The BBC reported that Mr Hamilton’s wife was panicking and their children, aged two and three, became “hysterical”.
The family were forced to remain on the train until it reached Shoeburyness at the eastern end of the line, where his wife Alana went to speak to the driver.
Mr Hamilton, who has been in a wheelchair since contracting meningitis and sepsis in 2019, said they were then told their attempts to hold the door open at Benfleet had caused a delay and as a result the train which would have taken them back had already left .
He added that staff at Benfleet railway station said there had been a problem with children running around the track, but different versions of events were given by other staff.
Mr Hamilton said it was several hours before the family got home and the experience had made him “feel really small”.
He said: “You’re fighting for your independence when you’ve had such a big disability hit you, and then you can’t even get on and off a train without help. It makes you scared of going back on the train again.”
A spokesperson for c2c said: “We apologise for any inconvenience that was caused to Mr Hamilton. We can confirm there was an incident at Benfleet station when Mr Hamilton arrived, which was being dealt with by two police officers.
“Unfortunately, due to this disruption, station staff were unable to assist Mr Hamilton disembarking from the train and we sincerely apologise for any upset and disruption this caused him.”
The company said it had provided “additional briefings” to the staff involved to ensure an incident such as this “doesn’t happen again” and that they were arranging a meeting with Mr Hamilton.
