Lancaster Gate customers to benefit from new lifts

09 December 2016

London Underground (LU) is advising customers who use Lancaster Gate Tube station that essential work to replace the station's two lifts will begin on 4 January 2017.

Currently the station is served by two 50-person lifts, which are nearly 30-years-old and need replacing. Replacing the lifts will greatly improve their reliability, reducing failures and ensuring that customers face fewer delays when exiting the station. The new lifts will also use less energy and include CCTV and hearing induction loops.

The station will be closed while the lifts are replaced and will reopen in mid-July 2017. LU explored the option of replacing the lifts one at a time in order to keep the station open. However, this would prove unsafe; having only one lift in operation would lead to long queues and severe congestion. There would also be no alternative available in the case of lift failure, prolonging the time it would take for emergency services to rescue customers or tend to someone requiring medical attention.

The evacuation staircase cannot be used as the sole means of access to and from the platform as there are over 100 steps to the platforms - equivalent to at least a four storey building. This would cause congestion and be unsafe for the number of customers using the station.

Mark Wild, London Underground's Managing Director, said: `I'm sorry for the disruption that the lift work will cause our customers, but the new lifts will be more reliable with fewer delays when the work is complete. Closing the station is the quickest and most efficient way to replace the lifts - the decision has not been taken lightly and we will work hard to complete this vital upgrade as quickly as possible, keeping customers and local businesses up to date as the work progresses.'

LU advises customers to use nearby alternative stations while Lancaster Gate is closed. From Lancaster Gate, customers can access the Central line by using Queensway (12-minute walk) or Marble Arch (13-minute walk). Paddington is a seven-minute walk and serves the Bakerloo, District, Circle, and Hammersmith & City lines. Alternatively, bus routes that serve the area are numbers 46, 94, 148, 274 and 390.

ENDS

Notes to Editors