AM tells Boris disabled tube is waste of time

By Amy May Shead and Simone Knox

Green Park tube station

Installing step-free access at Green Park tube station is costing taxpayers £97 million – and a Conservative Assembly Member today condemned the scheme, saying it was “half-baked” and a waste of money.

The London Assembly Member – Gareth Bacon, said the money would be better spent improving disability transport above ground, including the troubled Dial-a-Ride. The whole project is tipped to reach £400 million, making 25% of the tube network accessible for the disabled.

“I’m not convinced that step-free access isn’t just a grand gesture with financial extravagance attached to it,” Mr Bacon told London Mayor Boris Johnson during the Mayor’s question time today.

At least £34 million has already been spent upgrading Green Park station, with another £63 million earmarked for the project. But Mr Bacon said step-free access stations across London were flawed, as wheelchair users still had difficulty getting on the trains once they were on the platforms.

“All we’re getting for that is one or two lifts that can take people down to a platform… and there’s nothing to allow users to board the trains from the platform.”

Lord Richard Dutton

Wheelchair users cannot get on board the trains

Wheelchair-bound Lord Richard Dutton carries a ramp to help him get on and off trains, but he said the majority of wheelchair users didn’t have one, so they didn’t use the tube.

“It would be impossible. Had I not had a ramp, I wouldn’t be able to get off. It’s preventing all wheelchair users. They’ve got to make the whole tube accessible,” he said.

Mr Bacon asked the Mayor to reconsider the cost of the upgrades. However, the Mayor said 24 step-free access projects had already been deferred, and denied that the whole scheme wasn’t “just a grand gesture.”

“I don’t think we should abandon the objective of people trying to use the tube because of disabilities, wheelchairs and push chairs. But you do have a point,” he said.