FOI request detail

Errors, omissions and delays in updating accessibility products

Request ID: FOI-1251-1718
Date published: 25 September 2017

You asked

Please provide information as to the number of reported errors and omissions in the Step Free Access Guide and other Underground-related accessibility information products provided and maintained by TFL, since September 2017. Please provide information as to the number of reported instances of significant delay (significant meaning in excess of 4 weeks) in updating said accessibility products following change of accessibility of stations, e.g. provision and commissioning of lifts providing step free access, or provision of Harrington humps providing level access. Should the above exceed the statutory limit set out in section 12, please provide what information you can by reducing timescales to more recent years. Should you not hold this specific information, or not hold it in a manner amenable to interrogation, please advise me in compliance with S16 as to what information you do hold that demonstrates the degree of inaccuracy of the accessibility products and what I may wish to request to obtain it.

We answered

TfL Ref: FOI-1251-1718

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 27 August 2017 asking about accessibility information.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do not hold the information you require. You asked:

Please provide information as to the number of reported errors and omissions in the Step Free Access Guide and other Underground-related accessibility information products provided and maintained by TFL, since September 2015.

Please provide information as to the number of reported instances of significant delay (significant meaning in excess of 4 weeks) in updating said accessibility products following change of accessibility of stations, e.g. provision and commissioning of lifts providing step free access, or provision of Harrington humps providing level access.

We do not hold the specific information you have requested. We do not have a separate recording category for complaints or comments specifically related to errors and/or omissions in the Step Free Access Guide and other accessibility information products and so are unable to provide you with a figure for this.

Since September 2015, our range of maps (including the basic Tube map and the Step-free Tube guide) have been updated twice a year (usually in May and December). If some work took place on the network that meant a change in accessibility, it would usually be flagged on the next version of the maps. When work takes place to increase accessibility, our current policy is to wait until the work is completed and launched before adding it to our maps (in case the launch is delayed and we find ourselves advertising accessibility that isn’t available yet).

As a result, we do not record instances of something changing on the network and it taking more than four weeks to appear on our maps as it would not appear until our next planned update. However, we do, of course, publicise works and closures where and when they occur. Please also note that we are currently exploring the option of updating the printed Step-free Tube guide twice a year, but the online version four times a year to better reflect the changes on our network.


In terms of advising on information that we do hold which may be of interest to you, we could provide details on the number of complaints received in this time period generally using specific keywords that you may be interested in (for example “step-free tube guide” or simply “map” or “guide”), however it is unlikely that the majority of these cases would be specifically related to the subject matter you are interested in.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Lee Hill

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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