From the Bristol Evening Post
First Great Western has apologised to a heavily pregnant woman who suffered a panic attack after being denied access to a train.Kieshia Chun, 22, of Milton, Weston-super-Mare, was on the way home from her publishing company job in Bath when she tried to board a train at Bristol Temple Meads.
Her direct train had been cancelled and she rushed across to another platform to catch a slow train to Weston.
But she was told the train was full and she was not allowed to get on board.
The credit controller, whose baby is due on March 25, said: "The dispatcher and the ticket collector watched me walk from the steps to the train and only when I got there did they tell me I couldn't get on because it was full.
"The doors were not locked but there was plenty of space for at least one more person and there was only me waiting.
"I have been on it when it has been a lot busier than that.
"I was very out of breath and very noticeably heavily pregnant.
"When the conductor refused to let me on, I asked him if he was joking and told him I was eight months pregnant, to which he replied that there was nothing he could do about it because there was no space and he closed the doors."
Kieshia then asked the employee to fetch someone so she could complain but claims she was told not be rude and was pointed in the direction of another platform for complaints.
She was so enraged she started having a panic attack and began to struggle to breathe.
This was overheard by her partner, Matt Venn, who she had been talking to on her mobile phone.
Matt, a 35-year-old project manager, called National Rail and the company then called a taxi to take Kieshia home and agreed to foot the bill.
Kieshia added: "It was very stressful because they were unbelievably rude."
When Kieshia recovered she called the rail network and was told it would investigate and she would receive a reply within 24 hours.
A week later she claims she received a letter saying there was nothing they could do but it has since offered to refund her weekly ticket in travel vouchers.
A First Great Western spokesman said: "Our customer service manager has investigated the issue and we can confirm that after a first letter, the woman was written to again and offered vouchers to the value of her weekly season ticket, in addition to our having already reimbursed her taxi fare.
"We apologise to the customer for any inconvenience caused to her, and we appreciate the customer needed to catch her train.
"However, our platform staff are required to stop people trying to board trains if the doors are locked or closed and the train is about to depart - for obvious safety reasons - and they acted as trained for safety."
First's Apology to Pregnant Keishia
But it wasn't 'platform staff' - it was the conductor, the doors weren't 'locked or closed', and the lady was refused entry because the conductor claimed the train was full and not because it was 'about to depart'."However, our platform staff are required to stop people trying to board trains if the doors are locked or closed and the train is about to depart - for obvious safety reasons - and they acted as trained for safety."
Incompetent ass. Another fob off.