‘It’s massive for me’: TFL’s new mini-ramps help wheelchair users on London Underground

National World - LocalTV

We spoke to Deputy Mayor for Transport Seb Dance about the importance of having infrastructure for everyone at TFL stations, and wheelchair user James Lee.

Transcript

00:00 Can you just tell us a little bit about why we're here?

00:03 Today we've been at Tottenham Hell trying out the new mini-ramp from Transport for London

00:09 which is being used to help customers who use mobility equipment to overcome some of

00:17 the gaps on the network where they can't quite get from train to platform with the level

00:23 of ease that we'd like to see.

00:26 Only public transport has to be public, that means it has to be accessible for everybody.

00:31 We can't just have sections of society that are locked out of the public transport system.

00:36 It's really impressive here at Tottenham Hell to see the improvements that have been made.

00:39 Not only has the lift been upgraded but they now have these lightweight but robust ramps

00:45 to enable people with particular types of wheelchair to board trains, effectively have

00:51 level boarding.

00:53 I think certainly speaking to my experience and the experiences of friends and colleagues

00:59 who face similar challenges to myself, we've really seen an improvement over the last decade

01:07 on the network, a really marked improvement.

01:11 I think just today or recently, TfL are talking about increasing the number of step-free stations

01:18 from a third to half on the network which is a real big thing, especially within the

01:23 funding constraints that they're trying to work within.

01:25 Would you like to see them go the whole way though?

01:29 Of course, absolutely.

01:31 And colleagues at TfL will tell you the same thing, that they would love for the infrastructure

01:34 to be completely step-free and to be as accessible as possible.

01:40 The step-free access programme across the network is of huge importance of course and

01:44 what we want to do is increase the number of stations across the network from a third

01:48 to a half.

01:49 Obviously we want a situation where all stations are fully accessible but this is a key milestone

01:53 on that journey.

01:55 But also in addition to the physical infrastructure changes, there's also a lot of training

02:00 that is being delivered for TfL staff as well as for passengers as well to enable people

02:06 to recognise the different needs that people have when travelling across the network.

02:11 If you find it hard to navigate around the infrastructure that we've got in place, it

02:16 can be really damaging for people.

02:18 It can really knock your confidence if you're trying to make a journey and that journey

02:23 goes poorly.

02:24 Using things like the mini-ramp and the assistance from staff and the steps that TfL are taking

02:30 to try and make the network more inclusive and more accessible are huge for building

02:34 my confidence, are huge for building my sense of independence.

02:38 It's massive for me to be able to go to work and feel confident and independent in the

02:44 journey that I'm taking.

02:45 It's massive for me to be able to go to a hospital appointment and feel confident and

02:50 have independence in the journey that I'm taking.

02:53 It's huge for me to be able to go out and see friends and feel confident and independent

02:56 in the journey I'm taking.

02:58 These are all really important things for people and it's why what TfL are doing is

03:02 really welcome.

03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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