London public transport to be more accessible

Date: 21/12/2012

Transport for London is to improve the accessibility of the capital's public transport for disabled passengers over the next ten years.

28 London Underground and Overground stations are to have their steps removed and 95 per cent of bus stops are expected to be made accessible by 2016.

This process will be gradual with 70 per cent of bus stops having the improvements put in place by the spring of next year, with an extra £18 million allocated for this project.

As well as infrastructure changes there will also be a change in the culture of staff with £50 million to go on training bus workers to help disabled people.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, said: "London now has the most accessible transport network in the country and one of the most accessible in the world.

"But it's not perfect and we must go further – that's why we're investing hundreds of millions of pounds and using the most imaginative solutions and the latest technology to take the accessibility of the transport network to the next level."

The main focus for improving accessibility will be at stations and on trains with an increased number of manual boarding ramps, but there will also be changes to signage and the website in order to make it more user friendly.

By 2021 the number of journeys taken without encountering steps on the Tube will rise from 67 million a year to 189 million, according to the transport authority.

At present Bond Street, Finsbury Park, Greenford, Tottenham Court Road and Victoria stations are all having improvement work carried out on them.

Fazilet Hadi, from the Royal National Institute of Blind People, said: "Initiatives such as practical disability awareness training for staff, audio and visual announcements on buses, passenger assistance on the Tube and travel mentoring, are a necessity for disabled people to travel independently.

"These ideas should act as an example for other transport operators."

Posted by Mary Treen

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