Access to the London Underground for Disabled People
Request ID: FOI-0233-2122 Date published: 07 June 2021
You asked
Many thanks for your quick response. I am, of course, happy to clarify my questions further to support you in meeting my FOI request.
Question 1: I would like a schedule of accessibility works including a deadline date for when EVERY station will be fully and freely accessible for disabled passengers, including those in wheelchairs.
Question 2: Thank you for your clarification on this issue. My question is revised as follows: Since its creation. how many times has TFL planned accessibility works and later cancelled them? I understand this may be challenging to retrieve, but something as simple as searching press releases should be sufficient.
Question 3: Currently, the Underground offers a discriminatory service in that disabled people cannot fully and freely access it. Given this premise, I would like to know:
(a) Is this acceptable? A yes or no answer will be sufficient.
(b) Does the Underground also discriminate against other people who have protected characteristics as defined by the 2010 Equalities Act (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity)
(c) If the answer to (b) is yes, then why? If the answer to (b) is no, then why does the Underground continue to single out disabled people for discriminatory practice?
I hope these clarifications are of help and I look forward to hearing from you
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0233-2122
Thank you for your email of 3rd May 2021 (and clarified on 9th May 2021) asking for information about access to the London Underground for wheelchair users
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“Question 1: I would like a schedule of accessibility works including a deadline date for when EVERY station will be fully and freely accessible for disabled passengers, including those in wheelchairs.
Question 2: My question is revised as follows: Since its creation. how many times has TFL planned accessibility works and later cancelled them? I understand this may be challenging to retrieve, but something as simple as searching press releases should be sufficient.
Question 3: Currently, the Underground offers a discriminatory service in that disabled people cannot fully and freely access it. Given this premise, I would like to know:
(a) Is this acceptable? A yes or no answer will be sufficient. (b) Does the Underground also discriminate against other people who have protected characteristics as defined by the 2010 Equalities Act (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity) (c) If the answer to (b) is yes, then why? If the answer to (b) is no, then why does the Underground continue to single out disabled people for discriminatory practice?”
I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.
In answer to question 1, there is no schedule of works or date for when every station will be step-free. This is because our estimates indicate that to make every station step-free would cost several billion pounds. As this level of funding is far beyond TfL’s reach, we have not drawn up proposals for achieving step-free access across the entirety of the network. We are, however, committed to delivering an ambitious but realistic and affordable plan to transform the accessibility of our network.
Since May 2016 when the latest plan for 30 step-free stations was implemented, fourteen London Underground stations have become step-free. These are:
Station
Year completed
Tower Hill
2016
Vauxhall
2016
Tottenham Court Road
2017
Bond Street
2017
Bromley by Bow
2018
Buckhurst Hill
2018
Newbury Park
2018
Victoria
2018
Finsbury Park
2019
South Woodford
2019
Mill Hill East
2020
Cockfosters
2020
Amersham
2021
Debden
2021
Both Osterley and Ickenham stations will also become step-free imminently. Additionally to those, our schedule of works for the future is as follows:
Station
Year to be completed
Sudbury Hill
2021
Wimbledon Park
2021
Harrow-on-the-Hill
2021
Battersea Power Station
2021 / 22
Nine Elms
2021 / 22
Bank (Northern line & DLR Interchange only)
2021 / 22
Moorgate (Metropolitan line only)
2021 / 22
Whitechapel
2021 / 22
Ealing Broadway
2021 / 22
Knightsbridge
2022 / 23
Colindale*
2022 / 23
Burnt Oak*
2022 / 23
Hanger Lane*
2022 / 23
Northolt*
2022 / 23
South Kensington (District & Circle line only)*
2024 onwards
Walthamstow Central*
2024 onwards
Elephant & Castle* (Northern line only)
2024 onwards
Waterloo (Northern line only)*
2024 onwards
Note that stations with an * against their names means that funding is still to be confirmed.
A further, fundamental point on the question of making the whole network step-free is that there are a number of stations on the network where the installation of lifts would be so complex that the station would have to be significantly rebuilt to undertake the work. These are generally “deep level” stations in central or inner London, under busy streets, where such works would incur very high costs and cause significant long-term disruption to customers, impacting negatively on the wider Underground network and on the surrounding roads. TfL would therefore need to consider the relative costs and benefits of installing lifts at such stations, particularly where there are already other nearby stations with step-free access.
In response to question 2, there is no quick or efficient way for us to source all of the information to provide a categoric answer. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information there is a costs limit of £450 for responding to cases, calculated at a rate of £25 per hour. If it would cost this much to determine if the information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere, then the exemption can apply and there is no obligation to respond. Note that TfL was founded in July 2000, and hence the question covers almost 21 years. During that time accessibility projects would have been spread throughout the organisation and there is not one central location or system where these records are kept. Multiple teams would have worked on projects with an accessibility element and would have kept their own records. Over the period of 21 years many of these records would have been relocated, archived or left in filing systems that were superseded. We believe that sourcing all of the necessary information to answer the question would far exceed the costs limit. However, that said, we can give you the following more general information.
Cancelling accessibility projects is only ever done as a last resort, but it is true that we are not always able to deliver everything we set out to. For example, in 2016 the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and TfL announced plans to deliver 30 step-free stations by March 2022. 23 stations were announced. However, due to the lack of certainty around capital investment from Government in 2018, some projects and priorities across TfL had to be adapted. It was necessary to reduce the total number of stations on this programme from 30 to 23 and the remaining seven stations were not taken forward. Then, in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic meant that step-free schemes at Burnt Oak, Northolt and Hanger Lane, were paused. These are now pending further discussions with the Government on the funding support that TfL needs following the impact of the pandemic on our finances. At these stations only preliminary work has been undertaken so far, and the projects were at a very early stage of delivery.
In addition, schemes at Boston Manor, North Ealing, Park Royal, Rickmansworth, Ruislip and Snaresbrook, which were scheduled to be made step-free in 2024, are also paused until appropriate funding can be identified. Only design work has been undertaken so far at these stations. We continue to work with stakeholders and developers to explore options for funding further work at these and other locations across our network, as well as to ensure the safeguarding is in place while these long-term funding options are identified.
This means that of the 23 stations on the programme:
8 have been delivered,
4 will be delivered by the end of 2021
2 will be delivered in 2022 / 23
9 are paused until funding can be identified.
Outside of the accessibility programme detailed above, we often work with developers who can contribute significant amounts of funding towards step-free access schemes and often deliver the works on our behalf. These schemes are often highly complex and are dependent upon a range of factors including funding, community support, planning consent, commercial viability and funding availability. Because of the difficulty in getting all these elements to align to the satisfaction of all parties, schemes that are in progress can be stopped without notice while further talks or planning processes take place. This is the case at stations such as Brent Cross and Notting Hill Gate. We have publicly announced our plans at both of these stations only to find the work must be paused due to circumstances we could not have predicted at the outset. We still regard these schemes to be on-going, however the process can take several years. It may appear to the customer that these schemes have been cancelled but this is not necessarily the case.
We have also publicly stated our plans for step-free access at Camden Town and Holborn and these remain in our 25 year business plan. These schemes are not included in the list above as TfL must navigate its funding position given the current climate. However we remain committed to these schemes subject to funding and future funding settlements.
In respect of your third set of questions, these do not constitute requests for recorded information and therefore they do not fall within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act.
Note that more general information and guidance about accessibility and step-free access to our network can be found on the TfL website here:
If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
