Forum Topic

Mind the gap

There was a report on BBC London about the large gap between the train and platform on the Lizzy Line at Ealing Broadway.   Is it my imagination or is it worse at Ealing Broadway that other local stations?  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckv7kge48z4o

Jo Smith ● 271d21 Comments

has had to crawl off a train once again.Why are we still buying trains without level access and buses with only one wheelchair space?Why when it was so much better for the Olympics here did it then get so much worse afterwards?on Radio 5 Live now.  Expect to hear more about this!

Philippa Bond ● 155d

Another case although this time involving a child. This one seems less clear cut that the previous ones. Obviously sad that the little girl fell the first time but her parents say that was the first of four occasions which begs the question, why not just step off the train first and lift her down. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/elizabeth-line-ealing-broadway-gap-platform-station-injuries-sadiq-khan-b1172537.html

Gordon Southwell ● 188d

https://www.ealingtoday.co.uk/default.asp?section=info&page=eaealingbroadwaystation009.htmAnother passenger who has ended up in hospital as a result of falling due to the large gap between train and platform at Ealing Broadway has come forward.Would the 'hump' as has been added at Northwich work here?

Philippa Bond ● 194d

Just because you've been rebuffed doesn't mean you should go away.  It sounds like a good way to reduce the demands for step-free access - something which is continuing throughout London just as it should.

Philippa Bond ● 224d

Lobbying is one thing, TfL agreeing to do something is quite another. There has been a long-standing campaign for step free access at Northfields station but it’s been met with a firm rebuff from TfL. Campaigners were told they should find the thousands of pounds for a feasibility study’, which wouldn’t even guarantee step free access would be installed. If TfL was committed to improving accessibility it would do such studies as a matter of course, without the public having to fund them.

Simon Hayes ● 225d

Yes, you can arrange in advance to be met by someone with a ramp.  I did once have the tel no for that but you do lose flexibility of travel with that which can be rather stressful.  Even if you just manage to use it one way it will save you a taxi fare.  But who wants to have to do trial runs of these journeys?!There is this info on the TfL website about the progress towards step-free access.  There are a lot of stations needing it - so it is always worth lobbying for it:https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/step-free-access?intcmp=1954#:~:text=All%20Elizabeth%20line%20stations%20are,fifth%20carriage%20for%20level%20access.)

Philippa Bond ● 225d

Last month I was due to meet my cousin from South Wales at Paddington.Got to EB station. First time I had used the Elizabeth line. When the train came in I realised I wouldn’t be able to get on it as I couldn’t manage the gap.Fortunately upon walking up the station I chanced on a member of staff holding a mobile plank for access. He was expecting someone to alight in a wheelchair.So I stayed with him and thus used it myself to access the train.At Paddington I realised that in coming back I wouldn’t be able to get off the train. So I took the Circle line changing at Notting Hill Gate onto the Central Line. But it did involve lots of steps that I have difficulty with. In hindsight maybe changing at Bond Street where there is a lift would have been better.However, given it is only an annual journey I shall use a cab there and back next time,I understand there is a court case coming up due to a passenger’s injury.

Bettina Margaret Thwaite ● 227d

Its obviously something that hits a nerve but I still stand by the fact that cycling should be made safer by reducing the interaction and access for motorised transport - and in particular the number that you see speeding some on automatic pilot - making it harder for pedestrians to cross roads.Lifts can be shared and chaperoning can be shared.  Cycling is a life skill just like swimming is and learning the Green Cross Code is to safely cross roads.

Philippa Bond ● 228d

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/passengers/station-improvements/access-for-all-improving-accessibility-at-railway-stations-nationwide/

Philippa Bond ● 230d

https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/northwich-rail-passengers-get-the-hump

Philippa Bond ● 230d

https://www.ealingtoday.co.uk/default.asp?section=info&page=eaealingbroadwaystation008.htmAnother story on the front page about someone being injured as a result of the very large gap and drop between the platform and the train at Ealing Broadway.I thought this was interesting although it is rather old - there must be more of this sort of discussion:https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/platform-height-issue-for-new-built-stations.195903/

Philippa Bond ● 230d

This was a thread started about the danger of gaps between the Lizzy line and the platform.  The gaps also exist between the tube lines and the platform.  That makes them difficult for many.  If you are no longer able to walk long distsnces or cycle you would expect to be able to use the bus or the train.  Buses are now supposed to be easier regarding stepfree access but the drop from trains is difficult, although with the handrail getting on is easier than it once was.  It is an area that needs further attention.As Nigel has pointed out you can learn which stations are more accessible.  There definitely used to be more info on the TfL Journeyplanner website.  It had been further improved last time I looked at it and you could choose routes with less walking and no steps.  It looks as though it should go further with gaps and drops.

Philippa Bond ● 268d

The 15 minute city will never happen in London, as least not in my lifetime. Successive short-term planning policies which have killed High Streets have put paid to that. No matter how many cycle lanes or 'initiatives' are invoked the FACT is that much essential infrastructure now sits well beyond a 15 minute non-car journey.Despite bleating that we should be like Paris (where the arrondisements lend themselves to far greater localisation) it simly isn't going to happen withoiut billions being spent to return us to Victorian travel patterns.Philippa has fallen into the LCC sweeping generalisation without consideration of ALL the facts problem. Just because you say it is doesn't make it true.

N V Brooks ● 270d

Wow, what a massive generalisation Philippa.If kids are ferried around it’s because parents are usually too time pressured to use alternative methods. Younger children have to be chaperoned and your 15 minute city hasn’t materialised yet. The logistics of getting younger children from A to B aren’t always as straightforward as you idealists like to imagine.You will find that older children make their own way to places. Did you know they get free bus travel in London? Those ZipCards get very well used.And since when did cycling become compulsory? A vast majority of people don’t do it because they don’t like it or it’s not suited to their needs. If you are so desperate for a cycling city I suggest you nip down to Heathrow and get the next plane to Beijing!

Simon Hayes ● 270d

Nigel. I know you no longer cycle or motorbike but there are others who could and would do and also do - and that includes the elderly. Electric bikes make it easier. The infrastructure, incentive and encouragement needs to be there so that children aren't all ferried around all the time in cars and every new parent immediately thinks they have to buy a car (or a second one) as soon as they can afford it (and once they've got it feels they have to use it).  We need more flexibility.

Philippa Bond ● 270d

Indirectly. However how TfL spends its budget is almost totally within the purview. The choice to spend vast amounts pandering to a minority travel interest (cycling)  to the exclusion of the elderly, less mobile or disabled speaks volumes about their exclusionist policies.

N V Brooks ● 270d

The Govt holds the purse strings.  There are some lists of stations that have been put forward for being made accessible.  You can lose out when others are chosen (and that happens to many) but on the other hand if you never ask you won't get.  New solutions may also be devised and possible over time.  The fragmentation of agencies involved unfortunately makes it worse with National Rail currently building new and replacement bridges over railway lines that are inaccessible.  With a more joined-up approach with grants and funding from other agencies eg crowdfunding and charities and local businesses as well as Govt money more might be achieved.

Philippa Bond ● 270d

Noble sentiments Philippa but TfL has a tin ear when it comes to accessibility to its services. A case in point is Northfields station where a campaign to install a lift has been rebuffed for years. The last move saw TfL tell campaigners that feasibility study would cost £250,000 but they would have to fund it themselves.The obsession is with cycling, where the money tree seems to be ever fruitful for more me more outlandish infrastructure across London. Current policies are discriminatory and probably illegal but, as the saying goes, every journey matters. Unless you are disabled, elderly, pregnant or pushing a buggy.

Simon Hayes ● 270d

Over 30 years ago a flatmate fell between a tube train and the platform.  It has always been bad.  It varies from station to station.  It is so much better now that tubes have handrails.  There are too many different companies and organisations involved and designs and alterations/changes are not joined up enough.  You can find that there are stepfree buses to a station but then the station isn't stepfree for instance.  Grants for this and grants for that but a lack of overall coordination in the whole scheme.  So much for a Disability Act!Petitions and lobbying is necessary.  I found the GLA member for Transport helpful as they know who at TFL or/and National Rail to contact.  The local MP can also be helpful.  It's worth getting a group together as there is more strength in numbers.As you get older you have less bounce in your step and it can jar your spine stepping down from a height.  There may be particular carriages or parts of the platform where it is easier and perhaps this could be painted on the platform.

Philippa Bond ● 270d

Good to see BBC London cycling correspondent Tom Edwards covering the story. I’m sure if it was a cyclist tumbling over a kerb he’d have been engaged. Rather detached for this piece.What’s really laughable is the contention that current standards are legal. Don’t they always say that until someone dies…..

Simon Hayes ● 270d

Yes but not worse than many stations. As an example, I cannot get off a London bound train at two platforms at Vauxhall. The step down is too far for me to manage with sticks or crutches.  Have to go on to Waterloo and then catch a bus back.

N V Brooks ● 271d