Lack of step-free access to train platforms

[MichelleClarke]

Is anyone else mortified by the lack of step-free access at most train stations in London?

How on earth does Transport for London expect parents, carers and wheelchair users to access trains without lifts or escalators in their train stations. It is absolutely awful.

I was taking the train in London with my very young baby and there was no step-free access from the platform to street- as I’ve found with so many tube and train stations in london. I asked a train attendant for his help as no one was around and I couldn’t believe it when he said no - in such a horrible abrupt manner I was too shocked to know what to do. I then asked a female station assistant who said she wasn’t allowed to help due to insurance reasons. It has taken me a while to dare to go out with my baby let alone on public transport and this has completely set me back. In the end another commuter helped me up the stairs but this has really knocked my confidence. I don’t understand how TFL can be so un-user friendly to wheelchair and pram users and then not offer an alternative solution.
This made me so angry!!! For a second, even though I was shattered afterwards, I reflected on the fact that I was able to do this but what about those who are in the same position and most importantly wheelchair users.

TFL needs to do better by making most of their stations step-free access to train platforms.

Yes!!! I have been so shocked by how bad it is. Due to the lockdowns I didn't start taking my child into London until last summer but my mum lives there as do all my old friends and it's been a nightmare every time I take her there. I don't drive and have spent tons on cabs just to avoid it at times.

There's a map available stating which are step free. There's also buses (when mine were tiny buses had steps too!) I mostly used a carrier

I don't know I just went on the TfL go app and clicked the 'disabled' symbol and lots of stations have access.

Thats great @elelel, what happens if you don't want to go to that specific station?

When you compare central London stations, the proportion with street to train access is pretty low.

@Chucklecheeks01

Thats great *@elelel*, what happens if you don't want to go to that specific station?

It's unrealistic surely to expect every station to have step free, it's completely impractical for many stations.

It's a largely Victorian infrastructure which needs billions and billions spending on it - not sure why you're surprised tbh. Though I sympathise. Though more sympathy to disabled passengers - you have the option of using a sling for example, or folding up the buggy and carrying baby while on escalators.

But - buses are much better! Easy access, fresher air and a view!

@littleburn

The first pic shows more stations so no comparison. The second pic shows more step free than not.

The tube system is over 150 years old

[quote elelel]@littleburn

The first pic shows more stations so no comparison. The second pic shows more step free than not. [/quote]
It's showing the same area of the map - enlarging it making it smaller doesn't change anything. The second picture shows fewer stations because it takes out those that aren't step-free when you click the wheelchair symbol!

Oh yes, my mistake!! I wondered why it looked so blank

You are not wrong, although the level of investment and disruption needed to bring everywhere up to step free access would be horrendous. I live in south west london and it seems to be particularly rubbish on the district and northern lines. I really feel for disabled transport users - esepcially those stations with lifts that are out of order. Since having a baby, I've become much more knowledgeable about bus routes and the south london tram is brilliant with a buggy!

I travelled into London today for the first time with my baby and noticed exactly the same thing. If I lived here I’d always use a sling but I needed the pram for him to sleep on the long train journey and to see it my luggage underneath while I had his stuff in a backpack. It definitely made me appreciate disabled people’s struggles far more.

My daughter was only discussing this with me last night. She’s an Access Host at a West End Theatre and was helping train a new member of staff. She pointed out to them that disabled patrons often have a much more difficult, stressful journey before they even reach the theatre which is why theatre staff should aim to make their visit as easy as possible. Apart from a couple of lines at Charing Cross overground the nearest step free station is Tottenham Court Road.

They're gradually updating more and more stations. But there are some which cannot be updated with lifts etc, because of how old they are and their not having the space for it etc

It's a shame you've had abrupt and unhelpful staff encounters, I'm a wheelchair user and have had so much help and support and wonderful treatment when I'm using public transport in London

I lived in London until my first baby was about 2, and this was a nightmare. Even on the routes where there was a lift I found there was always the worry of what I would do if I was out with DS in the pushchair and the lift turned out to be out of order (which happened quite a bit). For a while I had a regular commute via a station with no lift, and basically just had to hover around at the top of a flight of steps looking stranded every day until some kind passer by offered to help me carry the pushchair down. It's really awful (and as you say so much worse for wheelchair users) but realistically it would just be SO expensive and logistically difficult to install lifts in all the stations it's going to be years and years and years before much progress and is made. Buses are generally not as fast but their coverage is good, so there are other options. But yes, it sucks.

I think it's a disgrace that there are so few fully accessible stations, Tube and Overground. And the wheelchair symbols on the Tube map can mislead: one colour indicates complete step-free access, the other, only access to platforms, not from platform to train. With buggies, other travellers almost always offer help, ime, but if there may be no-one else around. And wheelchair users are stuffed, basically.

YABU to expect station attendants to help you with your buggy I'm afraid. But I remember when DS was a baby I always had strangers helping me. I recommend a very light buggy so you can carry baby in one arm and just drag the buggy up.

I have a lot more sympathy for people with disabilities who don't have any other options. But it's a rather ancient transport system, I'm sure it's really complicated to fix.

You're not wrong, but they do seem to be continually improving it. And as pp have said, at least the maps and info are available so you can plan accordingly. It's not great, but as I've had to do in the past, you exit at a station with step free access and then walk further or get a bus above ground where necessary with a pram.

It's SO much better than it was ten years ago. Examples which spring to mind are that it's only relatively recently Clapham Junction had lifts installed, so previously every Tom, Dick and Harry changing trains to get to Gatwick had to hoik their cases up and down stairs I may actually have chosen to fly from Heathrow via bus and tube to avoid this.

Yes. It's surprising how bad it is in London.

If you take a baby on the tube you rely on the kindness of strangers to help you lug the buggy up steps (and people always helped in my experience). You can balance the buggy on escalators.

I wouldn't have dreamed of asking staff. You've got a baby, you're not disabled. I'm afraid it's not their problem. It's a very very old transport network and unsurprisingly the oldest lines have the worst accessibility

Unless things have changed since I last looked, you will only get assistance if you have booked it in advance.
It's all kinds of wrong for those who genuinely cannot travel without such help.
(DC2, now a adult, is severely visually impaired. They've been lucky that they haven't encountered jobsworths and so have been able to access help when travelling using trains / underground.)

Do you mean you are embarrassed to be a Londoner?

I was a one for years and the underground kept me fit

Now I walk with a stick and struggle when visiting central London. Luckily my family lives near the overground so at least my 'home' station is step free. Some of the interchanges (eg Green Park) have very long walks too and it's not always easy to tell what the situation will be until you get there. Plus the lift alway seems to be at the far end of the platform in relation to where I got off!

I haven't visited recently due to Covid but I've always found staff in outer stations helpful, not to mention other passengers. Many fellow passengers have come to my rescue when I'm trying to get a suitcase up the stairs.

You're not wrong but it's a gargantuan challenge to upgrade a system which is over 100 years old in one of the busiest places in the world. The costs and disruption involved would be unimaginable, TFL has a huge funding blackhole, and there is a good alternative service in London (buses). So the motivation to upgrade from those at the top is low.

New stations and lines are very accessible, as they should be.

I can't see the situation improving for people with accessibility requirements any time soon. Aren't tfl still threatening to close down a load of lines?