Paralympic legacy means making Tube accessible to all
The lack of access for disabled people at local tube stations has been described as “a scandal” by a London Assembly politician, who called on the Mayor to take action in the wake of the Paralympics.
Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said a survey found that six out of eight tube stations in the borough of Hounslow do not have step-free disabled access.
The survey of local underground stations showed that four of the six inaccessible stations in the borough had no accessible station on either side of them, he claimed.
The analysis shows:
• 119 of London’s 436 Underground stations have no disabled access - and
neither do stations either side of them.
• only 73 of 436 stations have full step free access, only 17%.
• 17 stations can only be used to change trains and are not accessible from the
street – including Blackfriars, Euston and Oxford Circus
• 44 stations only have street to platform access, not to trains
Inaccessible transport is one of the major barriers to disabled people getting about the borough. One in ten Londoners are excluded from large parts of the transport network because of mobility issues, according to a report by the London Assembly.
Labour London Assembly Member, Murad Qureshi AM, said:“The Mayor should be making accessibility a legacy priority. We need leadership from the Mayor and a clear statement of when these tube stations will have step free access.
“The Paralympic Games have been a huge success and inspiring - we now need to build on the momentum from the games and deliver a lasting legacy for our tube network by making it truly accessible for all.
“It is a scandal that there are 6 stations in Hounslow that are inaccessible for disabled Londoners, the elderly, and parents with buggies and that they don’t have the same travel opportunities that other Londoners have.
“If the Mayor is serious about ensuring these are ‘the most accessible Games ever’ and
that London 2012 makes a lasting legacy in this city then he needs a costed plan to
make all of our stations accessible.”
September 14, 2012