'The discrimination I face on public transport is inhumane'

Disabled people have told the BBC of "humiliation" and "sub-human treatment" as a senior group of MPs has warned accessibility on public transport is a "national embarrassment".

A report by parliament's cross-party transport select committee found "systematic" failings across all public transport and says "too great a burden is placed on individual disabled people" to hold operators and authorities to account.

One wheelchair user told the BBC he experiences "inhumane" discrimination on public transport 15-20 times a month, with bus drivers refusing to deploy the accessibility ramp.

The government said there was "more to do to ensure everyone can travel easily and with dignity".

"It's clear that accessibility has been an afterthought in developing transport services," said Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood.

The report found nearly seven in 10 disabled people and those travelling with them experienced barriers to travel either most or all of the time.

Charley Jonstone-Brent, who uses a wheelchair, said he ended up getting a bladder infection after the accessible toilet on a train he was on was out of service.

The train guard told him there was nothing he could do, suggesting he should "use another toilet" if he could get up and walk.

He told the BBC it made him feel "really depressed" and like he's "not a person", describing his treatment as "inhumane".

"I've not turned up to appointments or avoided going on days out with my partner because it gives me such a headache and makes me feel so sick that this is happening."

One partially sighted guide dog user who gave evidence to MPs about his experiences told the BBC he had reported 88 cab drivers for turning him away because of his dog, and 41 of those received a criminal conviction.

"Standing up to drivers who have discriminated is exhausting and it can be soul-destroying because all you want to do is get to work, or go for a meal, or go to a party," he said.

Ruth Cadbury MP, who chairs the transport select committee, told the BBC: "I'm so disappointed that my fellow citizens, my constituents can't make the kind of choices that I can make about how they live their day to day lives."

MPs say that the current system is too difficult to navigate. They're calling on the DFT, which is in charge of transportation policy in England, to simplify the system and to look at possible changes to legislation, which in theory, they say could be implemented in other UK nations.

The report calls for a change in culture, which they say is urgently needed to reframe disability inclusion as "a non-negotiable matter of human rights"

Last summer, LNER apologised to Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson after she was forced to "crawl off" a train arriving at London's King's Cross.

The 11-time Paralympic gold medallist told the accessible transport inquiry: "In my lifetime, I will not be able to get on a train without the permission or support of a non-disabled person."

Transport for All said the report findings "paint a damning picture", highlighting that the disabled community "does not have equal access to any mode of transport."

Caroline Stickland, the charity's chief executive, told the BBC: "We really welcome this clear call to action that the current state of transport inaccessibility in this country can not continue."

"This report is a wakeup call for the government to address transport accessibility and make sure the UK is a place for all of us."

The report makes 29 conclusions and recommendations – including one that the Government should produce a new inclusive transport strategy within 12 months.

The report also recommends that ministers look at simplifying the current regulatory and enforcement system which they say is "far too fragmented and complex".