As a supplier of mobility equipment in London, 1st Step Mobility know just how important accessibility is to the day to day lives of those living with disabilities or reduced mobility. Steps are something that many people would not bat an eyelid at using, but are an impassable barrier to some, making things like lifts a necessary feature for public transport. As such, it’s very disappointing to hear about the latest statistics regarding step free access across the London Underground.
Transport For London have apologised after recent figures have emerged that 77% of tube stations with lifts have been unable to offer full access to passengers with disabilities and pushchairs year round, with the number of days seeing no step-free access totalling 306 across the capital in the past year.
Out of 270 underground stations only 76 have step free access, and of these only 57 have lifts (the remainder using ramps instead), 47 of which were out of operation some time last year, despite seeing regular maintenance checks every two weeks and a full MOT every six months.
Barking station offered the most disappointment with 42 days worth of broken lifts, followed by Tottenham Court Road with 37 and Wembley Central at 31. Major stations including Canary Wharf, King’s Cross and Westminster were not immune, and have also been unable to offer step-free access year round to disabled passengers.
The issue has been described as “a gross insult to disabled people” with calls for TfL to do more to improve accessibility across the capital. In 2016 Mayor Sadiq Khan announced plans to increase the number of step free tubes stations to over one hundred by 2020, though only time will tell if this becomes a reality.
