Call for improved transport access
A campaign group has called for improved facilities for disabled people to make it easier for them to travel on public transport.With the Paralympic Games just two weeks away, a charity raised concerns about the number of ramps and lifts giving access to bus and Tube stations in London.
Transport For All called for a Games legacy of accessible transport for everyone in the capital.
Campaigns co-ordinator Lianna Etkind said facilities for disabled people to access public transport, including buses and the underground, were not fairly distributed across boroughs.
"For instance, only 30% of bus stations in Barnet have ramp access, while Kingston upon Thames maintains a 100% access for its bus stations. This disparity needs to be rectified. Only 66 stations in the London Underground network have access to the platforms, and there isn't any solution for the gap between the train and the platform."
The charity called for support from other disabled groups for its campaign, and plans to press Mayor Boris Johnson to take action.
Members of the charity took part in a demonstration outside London's Waterloo station to protest at rising rail fares.
Transport for London (TfL) said it installed 16 manual ramps at Tube stations to improve access during the Games. Mark Evers, TfL's director of Games transport, said: "We hope to continue using the temporary ramps after the Games."
A TfL spokesman added that 58% of bus stops in London were fully accessible and was expected to reach 70% by the end of this financial year. Other measures like lifts, platform humps, wide aisle gates, tactile paving and audio-visual displays have been introduced to make the stations easier to use for disabled travellers.
Mr Evers added that TfL had invested hundreds of millions of pounds in making the London transport network more accessible for disabled people in the past few years. London 2012 was the most accessible Games ever held, he maintained.
The charity called for support from other disabled groups for its campaign, and plans to press Mayor Boris Johnson to take action.
Members of the charity took part in a demonstration outside London's Waterloo station to protest at rising rail fares.
Transport for London (TfL) said it installed 16 manual ramps at Tube stations to improve access during the Games. Mark Evers, TfL's director of Games transport, said: "We hope to continue using the temporary ramps after the Games."
A TfL spokesman added that 58% of bus stops in London were fully accessible and was expected to reach 70% by the end of this financial year. Other measures like lifts, platform humps, wide aisle gates, tactile paving and audio-visual displays have been introduced to make the stations easier to use for disabled travellers.
Mr Evers added that TfL had invested hundreds of millions of pounds in making the London transport network more accessible for disabled people in the past few years. London 2012 was the most accessible Games ever held, he maintained.
© 2013 Press Association