Newly-installed modern lifts restore accessibility to busy Tube station

Transport for London (TfL) announced today (21 August 2018) that Brixton Tube station is step-free once again, after two new lifts were installed.

The new, modern lifts will help to ensure the station is accessible to all customers, including disabled or older customers, parents or carers with buggies and people with heavy luggage.

The new lifts are easier to maintain than the previous models and will also operate more quickly to reduce journey times for customers using the station. The old lifts, which were originally installed in 2005, had become unreliable and so it was vital they were replaced.

The station has two lifts, one from the street to the ticket hall, and the other from the ticket hall to the platforms. Both lifts were replaced at the same time in order to complete the crucial work as quickly as possible. The rest of the station, including the stairs and escalators, was not affected by this work and continued to operate as normal.

Esther Sharples, TfL's Head of Stations, Buildings & Civils, said: `These new lifts have restored step free access to the Tube in Brixton for our many customers for whom lifts make a real difference to their journey. I would like to thank our customers for their patience over the last six months while we carried out these vital replacement works.'

Chair of Transport for All, Alan Benson, said: `At Transport for All we're pleased to see these new lifts at Brixton Tube station brought into service and promising both a faster and more reliable service. Having no step-free access at such a major station has caused real problems for large sections of the community, not just disabled and older people.

`We are particularly pleased that TfL has listened to passengers about the impact these maintenance and replacement works have on people and has strived to reopen these lifts as quickly as possible. This has taken a real effort by TfL staff which is to be applauded. We hope this timely return to service is continued to be achieved on future projects.'

The Mayor is investing £200m in accessibility and step-free access across the Tube network, the largest investment of its kind in the history of the Underground, in order to bring the total number of step-free stations to more than 100, more than 40 per cent of the network by 2022.