A campaigner has launched a petition calling for UK veterans to be given free public transport after witnessing an ex-soldier being “chucked off” a train while trying to buy a ticket on board. Annemarie Miles said she was inspired to create the Change.org page after an “upsetting, distressing and disgusting” experience on a Transpennine Express train from Scarborough to York this week.
“There was a gentleman on the train – I’d seen him at the station with a shopping trolley full of his belongings and his little dog on top,” she said on TikTok. “I noticed there was a bit of discussion going on with a ticket inspector regarding his ticket… so I walked up and asked if he needed me to buy one for him, only to be told I couldn’t buy one on the train. This man said, ‘Thanks love [but] I’ve got money, I’ve got cash. I don’t have a smartphone, and the ticket office wasn’t open for me to buy one. No one told me I couldn’t get a ticket [onboard]’.
She said he then told her that he was a veteran of the armed forces who had “PTSD and mental health issues”, and even gave her his service number.
“That veteran, who served his country, was chucked off the train at Malton,” Ms Miles told her followers. “Last I saw of him as the train was pulling away was him crying on a bench with all his belongings and his little dog.”
“I’ve seen people buying tickets on this train before when they’ve been caught without one,” she added. “This gentleman was in distress. What happens if he does something to himself now?”
Encouraging others to join her campaign for ex-armed forces members to be allowed on public transport free of charge, she said: “The incident illuminated a glaring oversight in our support for those who have served our country.
“Veterans, who have dedicated their lives to the safety and freedom of the nation, deserve better. Providing them with free public transport is a small yet meaningful way to express our gratitude and recognition for their sacrifices.”
Veterans can currently receive free public transport in some parts of the UK, including those with a Veterans Oyster card in London, and public transport firms also offer free travel to military personnel to mark specific occasions such as Remembrance Weekend and VE Day.
The Transpennine Express has been contacted for comment.