Singer Amy in tears after friend ‘accosted’
SONGWRITER Amy Wadge has complained about the alleged treatment of Arriva Trains Wales staff towards a “vulnerable” friend.
She has complained that her friend was intimidated and allegedly threatened by Arriva Trains Wales staff at Treforest station.
Amy, who won two music awards for the hit song Thinking Out Loud, which she co-wrote with Ed Sheeran, has had hundreds of messages of support after sharing the experience.
Writing on Facebook she said: “I have just picked my friend up from Treforest station there was no conductor on the train and he wanted to pay when he arrived, instead he was led over to a fenced in section and interviewed, had rights read to him and refused to let him leave for 15 mins.
“These were not police but Arriva Trains Wales employees. Both were intimidating and considerably bigger than my friend. He is also a very vulnerable person. I am literally disgusted at the policy of intimidating someone who clearly wanted to buy a ticket but was unable to due to a delayed train and no conductor.”
After posting the Facebook message, Amy said her 50-year-old friend, whose identity she wants to protect because he is “vulnerable”, caught the train on December 2 at 5pm from Parson Street station in Bristol. There is no ticket office or machine there and he planned to pay his fare between Treforest via Cardiff Central.
But no conductor came to sell tickets on the train, which was then 10 minutes late into Cardiff, so he boarded the Treforest train, arriving at 7.55pm. When he approached Arriva Trains Wales staff at Treforest, asking to buy a ticket, they became threatening, the songwriter said.
“He is a guy of 50 who would never dodge a fare. No-one came down the train to sell him a ticket. I was sitting in the car watching when he got off the train.
“He approached the Arriva Trains Wales guys on the platform and said he wanted to buy a ticket. Instead of selling him one, they said they needed to ask him some questions.
“They took him to an area of the platform with a fence at one side and another member of staff blocked his exit. I came up to the fence to ask what was happening. He suffers from anxiety and they were telling him ‘You have the right to remain silent’.
“He gave his name and address. They interviewed him so I asked them what their legal jurisdiction was. It was after 8pm and dark. Fifteen minutes later we still kept saying ‘He wants to buy a ticket.’ The Arriva Trains Wales guy read a statement back to my friend to sign. Apparently he is going to be prosecuted.”
The Pontypridd-based songwriter, who has complained to Arriva, said the staff did not show their ID cards and the incident left her in tears.
“It was harassment and very frightening and intimidating.
She says she has now taken legal advice and has also contacted her MP Alun Cairns and AM Mick Antoniw.
An Arriva Trains Wales spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on individual cases. However, customers are obliged to buy a ticket at their earliest opportunity.
“If there are no ticket purchasing facilities available at the station, the customer must buy a valid ticket on board from the conductor (all our trains have conductors)..”