Data on accessibility within the Transport for London transit system. Please provide data on lift failures within London underground stations. IMPORTANT CONTEXT: I have searched through previous information requests on the subject of accessibility and noticed that at least one (FOI-2769-1819 response to a request made in Feb 2019) was refused under Section 12 (time exemption), so am keen not to have my request refused. That said, I am confused as to why a time exemption would apply when it appears that much of this data is already collated by TfL. The London Underground Performance Almanac provides performance data for lifts (and escalators) as a percentage by London Underground line, by financial year, meaning that TfL must hold underlying data to arrive at percentage results. I hope that you are able to simply provide me with pre-existing data; there appears to be no need to re-collate data at considerable time and expense to TfL. Please advise if necessary under your Section 16 obligations to advise and assist. 1. Please provide data for 2018/19 financial year OR for 2018 calendar year and 2019 calendar year to date (whichever is easier), on the frequency and duration of disrepair of lifts in London Underground stations. [NOTE: TfL holds this as underlying data for its london Underground Performance Almanac, please provide granular data in the form that it is held, ideally as a spreadsheet. Secondly, I am interested in the methodology behind the percentages give in the Almanac, and whether lift performance percentages refer to all lifts being out of service, or one lift, etc, please clarify]. If you are able to without exceeding Section 12 time limits, please also provide data for previous years (the TfL Almanac provides data by financial year going back to 2004/5. 2. TfL provides PDF maps on its website of accessible stations (Step Free Tube Guide and Avoiding Stairs Tube Guide), which provide a visual representation of accessibility across the network. If held, please provide a spreadsheet version of this data [I assume this might include the following columns: Station Name, Line, Lift Access, Escalator Access, Both, Small number of steps, Gap between station and platform (categorised as A, B, C), et cetera]. Please do not collate if this information is not held in spreadsheet format, and please do not reject the information request due to Section 12 if this information is not already held in this format. 3. I am grateful for any contextual information you deem it useful to provide alongside your response, which will help clarify and contextualise the data. I would also be grateful for any further data on accessibility that you have which may also be of interest.

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TfL Ref: 1427-1920

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 9 August 2019 asking for information about accessibility.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold the information you require.  You asked for:

1. Please provide data for 2018/19 financial year OR for 2018 calendar year and 2019 calendar year to date (whichever is easier), on the frequency and duration of disrepair of lifts in London Underground stations. [NOTE: TfL holds this as underlying data for its London Underground Performance Almanac, please provide granular data in the form that it is held, ideally as a spreadsheet. Secondly, I am interested in the methodology behind the percentages give in the Almanac, and whether lift performance percentages refer to all lifts being out of service, or one lift, etc, please clarify].

The information you asked for is available on our website using the following link: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/lift-availability. In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.

2.         TfL provides PDF maps on its website of accessible stations (Step Free Tube Guide and Avoiding Stairs Tube Guide), which provide a visual representation of accessibility across the network. If held, please provide a spreadsheet version of this data [I assume this might include the following columns: Station Name, Line, Lift Access, Escalator Access, Both, Small number of steps, Gap between station and platform (categorised as A, B, C), et cetera]. Please do not collate if this information is not held in spreadsheet format, and please do not reject the information request due to Section 12 if this information is not already held in this format.

Step-free map data is published in XML format as part of our open data: https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/open-data-users/our-open-data?intcmp=3671#on-this-page-8. (Under ‘Accessibility and toilets’). We also have step-free map data in a spreadsheet format as attached. Please note that both sets of data are from 2014.

3.         I am grateful for any contextual information you deem it useful to provide alongside your response, which will help clarify and contextualise the data. I would also be grateful for any further data on accessibility that you have which may also be of interest.

Further information on accessing our transport network and the help available is published on our website here: https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/. Please let me know if there is any further specific information you require and we will try and assist you.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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