Report: Making transport in London truly accessible for all disabled people

 

From the report

 

After decades campaigning for safer streets, more toilets, and a transport network for all Londoners, yesterday Caroline Russell AM hosted Transport for All at City Hall to launch the group’s new report, Accessibility Review of the PTAL Index.

 

Produced by Frontier Economics and Revealing Reality with funding from the Motability Foundation, the Accessibility Review measures how transport accessibility is currently classified for planning purposes, and recommends different indicators be used to better serve the needs of disabled people.

 

The only transport access criteria used on a statutory basis in London, a Public Transport Access Level (PTAL) figure measures the level of access to public transport in the capital, and is calculated using several factors: 

 

• Walking distance to the nearest stations/stops; 
• Waiting times at the nearest stations/stops;
• Number of services at the nearest stations/stops; and
• Distance to major rail stations.   

 

Informed through research by and engagement with disabled people and using King’s Cross, Soho and Southwark as test cases, the Accessibility Review builds on these traditional PTAL metrics by suggesting new criteria to more accurately reflect accessibility across London’s transport network.

 

The additional criteria suggested in the report are measures which:

 

• only includes stations or stops with step-free access
• rank less crowded stations as more accessible
• rank stations without toilet facilities as less accessible

 

 

 

Caroline Russell AM speaking at the report launch

 

 

Green Party London Assembly Member Caroline Russell said:

 

If we want to build a city that works for absolutely everyone, then we need to start by understanding exactly what matters to disabled and visually impaired Londoners travelling around our city.

 

I was proud to host Transport for All here at City Hall for the unveiling of their new report, which I hope will provide a much-needed blueprint for improving the way we address and expand accessibility measures in our planning policy.

 

Deborah Persaud, a research participant and Chair of Transport for All said:

 

London should be a city for everyone, but current planning systems result in many disabled people being effectively barred from parts of the city. It’s time Transport for London added accessibility measures to planning calculations, so London can start to be truly open to everyone.

  

A copy of the full report, Accessibility Review of the PTAL Index, can be viewed here.

 

TFL information on London travel during upcoming strikes

 

Between Tuesday 13 December 2022 and Sunday 8 January 2023, there will be national rail strike action.  Over the Christmas and New Year period, there will also be service changes and planned works. This will affect some services but most TfL services, including most of the Tube, will run during this time. If travelling during this period, plan ahead, check before you travel and leave more time for your journey. Our Journey Planner and TfL Go app can help you plan your journey as required.  National rail strike action Elizabeth line services will be disrupted during national rail strike action on the following days: Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14, Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December 2022 Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January 2023 The Elizabeth line will operate in three sections and run a reduced service each strike day: Liverpool Street (national rail platforms) and Shenfield between 07:30 and 18:30 only Paddington and Abbey Wood all day Paddington (national rail platforms) and Heathrow Terminal 4/Reading between 07:30 and 18:30 only A good service is expected by late morning on Thursday 15 and Sunday 18 December 2022, and on Thursday 5 and Sunday 8 January 2023.  There will also be national rail strike action between Saturday 24 and Tuesday 27 December. More details on travelling over the festive period are below. Visit our strike page for more information.

Wembley Park Station has its own paddling pool - urgent action needed!

Wembley Park Station has long had a problem puddle outside its Bridge Road exit but with the recent heavy rain the puddle has become a pool.  This was the scene during this evening's rush hour as pedestrians on their way to the bus stops tried to negotiate water a couple of inches deep in places.

Things got much worse when the Jubilee line shut down at Neasden due to a points failure. Passengers poured out of the station to use the alternative bus routes and some walked on the road on their way to the bus stops, the other side of the railings, to avoid getting their feet soaked.  I saw one man with a baby in his arms and holding the hand of a toddler  balancing along the pavement on the road side of the railings who could easily have been clipped by buses pulling up to the bus stop.

When I tweeted about this to Brent Council and Transport for London (above) on February 13th Brent Customer Services replied the next day.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will investigate the cause of the pooling of water in this location.

I don't know if an investigation has taken place but urgent action is required before there is an accident.

Bren Connects Wembley Tuesday 29th January

Metroline bus driver wins right to wear her Rastafarian colours

Marcia Carty with fellow Unite members

Marcia Carty, the Metroline bus driver suspended for wearing her red, gold and green Rastafarian colours at work has been reinstated. (Original Wembley Matters story HERE)

Earlier today Kingsley Abrams tweeted:

Am delighted to report a great result on this issue. Metroline have caved in and are letting Marcia Carty display her Rastafarian sacred colours of red, gold and green.This follows the powerful public petition and @UniteLondonEast press release and threats to escalate.

The  petition started by Lee Jasper calling on Sadiq Khan, Transport for London and Metroline has reached more than 19,000 signatures. LINK

This was the case set out by the petition:

Marcia Carty, a Londoner and a devout member of the Rastafarian faith, has been driving London’s buses for over a decade. Throughout that time, she’s worn a head wrap that has displayed her Rastafari sacred colours of, red, gold, and green without a problem.

This summer (2018), Marcia was approached by her manager at the Metroline Bus Company and told that while she could wear a head wrap, she must no longer wear her sacred colours.  Marcia was deeply upset but nevertheless was prepared to compromise, and with the support of her trade union union, Unite, offered to wear a company regulation, blue head wrap, with a small pin representing the colours so important to her faith.  That was refused and Marcia is now facing the sack if she does not comply with the order. Metroline was awarded the title ‘London Bus Operator of the Year’ at the prestigious London Transport Awards.

The irony is, that thousands of members of the Rastafari movement and their families constitute a huge percentage of London’s bus and tube drivers. Metroline is the only company who is insisting on introducing this new rule. Marcia has been off ill with the huge stress, she has faced since the beginning of disciplinary action against her.

Rastafari is not recognised as legitimate faith by UK law having been described in the Court at the time, by the then government representative, Lord Meston as  nothing more than  a relatively short lived “sect, cult or movement” with “quasi political and religious tenants”. 

As a result, Rasta’s employed in the private and public sector’s have no protection against religious discrimination in the workplace or in school. This is unacceptable for a  modern, multicultural, city like London where the contributions of Rastafari and Windrush  generations are rarely formally acknowledged.

We  say this is unacceptable and we call upon the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan to intervene  directly and issue instructions to Transport for London that henceforth Rastafari workers must enjoy the same protection, from religious discrimination in the workplace, as extended to all other recognised faiths groups. Rasta’s are currently allowed to wear their colours by London Transport. Remember Harvey Mitchell ? 

London is a diverse, and multicultural city and is important to recognise and value that complex diversity,  and ensure that all ethnicities, faith groups and other protected minorities, all enjoy robust protection from religious discrimination in the workplace.  

We call upon the Mayor of London to end this anomaly and ensure that Marcia no longer suffers religious discrimination and can return to work wearing the colours of her faith. 

One Love. 

Woodcock Hill's elderly residents wait 20 years for a bus

Cllr Reg Colwill (Conservative, Kenton) has backed a 20 year battle by North Brent Parks and Residents' Association (NBPRA) to persuade Transport for London (TfL) to modify the 223 bus route so that it serves elderly residents on Woodcock Hill. According to residents Cllr Colwill has been waiting for a response for 5 months.

 In a letter to Gavin Clark of TfL Consultation Team regarding their recent consultation, NBPRA state:

Please run the 223 up Woodcock Hill around the roundabout at Shaftesbury Avenue and back down to connect to its current route to the Kenton Road.  We are all writing to TFL to contact Cllr Colwill.  Where is the response Mr Clark? This is an indictment of how the Retired Residents of Kenton have been treated for 20 years.  It’s time for a change Mr Clark.

TFL stated that they are considering our proposal that has been repeatedly requested for over 20 years now.   Do we have to get a very large petition?   The over 60s retired and disabled residents, many of whom were either war veterans or had served in Local Government,  maybe they have all just been too polite not to get a large petition together and some being old and not on social media/internet have missed this ‘consultation’.  Again the over 60s Retired Residents know that they have not been heard.   

Please try and finally take into account the over 60s of the Woodcock Hill area – over 100 retired people in two blocks on Woodcock Hill and numerous others approx. 80 on the Woodcock Hill, Mount Stewart, Manning Gardens,  Woodcock Dell, Windermere Avenue,  Some prominent community workers now retired are all in need of this simple 223 bus route extension.  

Not much to ask when you have given your life for your Country is it?   

Three key points as to why this should work for Woodcock Hill:

• The feasibility of this extra section has already been established:  the metropolitan line tube is often closed during the weekends (busy shopping days),  and the rail-replacement route uses this exact journey.   
• During the bridge repairs to Preston Road – the rail replacement bus service ran along this route for over 4 months.   How much more workability studies do you need to know that this has worked.  
• We now have ‘DYL‘ double yellow lines along Woodcock Hill South side and parking additional restrictions on the North side,  thanks to Mr Kemp a former Police Officer and Crime Risk advisor, chairman of Residents’ Association, who worked in partnership with the local Council to make key changes that worked.  

We await the same cooperation from TFL even though it has taken over 20 years so far:  don’t make more elderly wait for the change they need to be mobile.   This needs your action TFL.

NB Taxi-Card and Dial - a - Ride.   Taxi - Cards (reduced Taxi fares for disabled.  This service has very restricted usage per year  (approx FOUR  rides per annum) !  

Temporary application for Cricklewood Superhub withdrawn but battle over permanent use continues

The North West Two Residents' Association have published the following update on the Cricklewood Rail-Freight Superhub LINK:

DB Cargo have told residents that they’re withdrawing their temporary-period application to use the site for aggregates for 18 months. They’re carrying on with the application for permanent use, bringing aggregates in by rail and out by road, plus construction waste in by road to go out by rail.

DB Cargo might once have hoped that the temporary application could be approved before the permanent one was published and objections came in, but that opportunity seems to have passed. They now want to have more meetings to discuss residents’ concerns and say their aim is for the rail freight facility to have no impact on residents’ quality of life.

More than 680 objections can now be read on the Barnet website and that may not include some that were sent by email. There are also some consultee responses in among the online documents.
Transport for London say they’re supportive of the proposal but require a Road Safety Audit, information on how the development helps reduce emissions and confirmation that the development contributes to improving pedestrian and cycle facilities along the A5. (That last is awkward, as the application took the attitude that cycling on the A5 is bad already and can be ignored.)

Barnet’s Transport & Regeneration team raised over 30 concerns and stated that “until the outstanding issues identified above are appropriately addressed the Transport & Regeneration team cannot support the subject planning application.”

They:

• identify contradictions and inconsistencies in the application
• find the turning manouevers using both lanes of traffic to enter the site unacceptable
• suggest better provision is needed for HGVs turning right into the site
• are concerned that the access road may become clogged
• question whether surveys on the A5 and at other facilities are applicable or comparable
• want to know just how many HGV movements are being proposed as the application keeps chopping and changing
• are concerned that the application considers some nearby junctions but not the three (Geron Way, Oxgate Gardens and Dollis Hill Lane) with the highest rates of personal-injury accidents
• query if 9 employees is a realistic assumption if there are 4 plots being let out to more than 1 company
• and more.

Satisfying these concerns and TfL’s may require not only conducting fresh surveys, modelling and calculations but changing designs including some redesign of the A5. We haven’t heard any firm suggestions for when this might be completed and ready for any further consultation, or when the application might finally go on the planning committee’s agenda.

Click here for earlier articles about the road/rail superhub.

Consultation on new Overground stations at Old Oak Lane and Hythe Road

Transport for London is consulting on new transport connections as a result of the building of HS2 and the Elizabeth line. There would be new Overground stations at Old Oak Common Lane and Hythe Road. Details from TfL below.

CONSULTATION EVENTS

The Nadi Park Royal, 260 Old Oak Common Lane, White City, London NW10 6DX

Monday 30 October 12:30 – 19:30
Saturday 4 November 10:30 – 16:00
Monday 6 November 12:30 – 19:30

Overview

Old Oak and Park Royal is one of London’s largest Opportunity Areas and one of the largest development sites in the country, with the ambition to deliver a whole new centre and community for west London which includes 25,500 new homes and 65,000 jobs.

Old Oak is the only place where High Speed 2 (HS2), the new high speed railway between London, the Midlands and the North, meets the Elizabeth line, London’s new East-West railway. A new station at Old Oak Common will open in 2026, providing both connections to the Elizabeth line, HS2 and National Rail services and a hub for regeneration.

In 2014 we consulted on the idea of providing further transport connections to the London Overground network at Old Oak with three options proposed. Over 83 per cent of respondents either supported or strongly supported this idea. There was also a clear preference for Option C which suggested two new Overground stations; one at Hythe Road on the West London line and one at Old Oak Common Lane on the North London line.

Following on from the 2014 consultation, working closely with Network Rail and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC), and co-funded by the European Commission, we have undertaken work to develop an initial design for the potential stations at Hythe Road and Old Oak Common Lane. We would now like your views on these designs.

In 2016 the Mayor of London carried out a review of the overall direction and work programme of the OPDC. The review recommended that additional work should be undertaken to support the case for the potential London Overground stations at Old Oak. Further work on the business case is currently underway and your views from this consultation will form an important part of the wider business case work.

Background

From 2026 HS2, the Elizabeth line and National Rail services are expected to call at a new Old Oak Common station and the area will benefit from excellent east – west rail connections, including to central London and Heathrow Airport.

Passengers wishing to travel by rail to Old Oak from the north or south would need to go by London Overground to Willesden Junction. Although Willesden Junction station is 1.5km away from the new Old Oak Common Station, there is no convenient link between the stations which would make it difficult for passengers to interchange between HS2, Elizabeth line or London Overground services.  

Providing good public transport connectivity at Old Oak would also support the regeneration proposed in the OPDC’s draft Local Plan (2017), the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area Planning Framework (2015) and the Mayor’s London Plan (2016).

What are the benefits of the new London Overground stations?

·      Better access to public transport across west London.

·      Enable more journeys to be made without going into central London, in turn reducing pressure on trains and stations in central London 

·      Improve access to HS2, Elizabeth line and National Rail services from areas of London connected to the London Overground network.

·      Enhance the regeneration benefits that HS2 and the Elizabeth line will bring to the Old Oak and Park Royal area.

·      Support the wider, OPCD-led development of Old Oak and Park Royal

·      Increase the number of destinations that can be accessed directly from Old Oak.

Working with our partners

Following on from the 2014 consultation, and supported with funding from the European Commission, we have worked up an initial design for both stations. Working closely with Network Rail and OPDC the designs have developed, leading to a single preferred option for each station. We have also worked closely with OPDC to ensure these designs would integrate with the proposals set out in its draft Local Plan.

What we are consulting on?

Hythe Road
Hythe Road station would be situated on the West London line about 700 metres from the Old Oak Common station and in one of the largest development sites within the OPDC area. This development site is owned by the company Car Giant and known as Old Oak Park. Car Giant, supported by the property development company London and Regional, is independently proposing a large-scale redevelopment of its land.

Hythe Road station

What options have been considered?

·      1A - a new London Overground station on the existing railway embankment, including embankment widening where required

·      1B - a new station and railway viaduct to the north of the existing embankment. This option would mean the removal of the existing embankment

·      1C - a new station and railway viaduct to the south of the existing embankment. This option would also mean the removal of the embankment

Which option is TfL consulting on?

Option 1B is the preferred option as it provides greater opportunity for regeneration and the creation of new spaces that support the wider development. In addition, this option reduces the severance caused by the embankment, making it easier for people to move around the area. 

Old Oak Common Lane
Old Oak Common Lane station would be situated about 350 metres to the west of the HS2 and Elizabeth line station, sitting on the North London line between Old Oak Common Lane and Midland Terrace. This station would provide the most convenient interchange between London Overground, HS2, the Elizabeth line and National Rail services. The location of this station is constrained by other railway lines, roads and residential properties.

To the west of Old Oak Common Lane station, there is an aspiration to provide a pedestrian and cycle link, connecting Old Oak Common Lane and Victoria Road. This link would make it easier for people to move around the area as currently the patchwork of railway lines act as a barrier. While a pedestrian / cycle link crossing the railway lines is not essential for the new station, we have included possible provision for such a link in each option as we believe it would be important for opening up the wider area.

Old Oak Lane station

What options have been considered?

·      2A - a new station with a sub-surface ticket hall and concourse. This option would include potential for an underpass between Old Oak Common Lane and Victoria Road

·      2B - a new station with an elevated ticket hall and concourse. This option would include potential for a bridge, linking pedestrians and cyclists between Old Oak Common Lane and Victoria Road

Which option is TfL consulting on?

Option 2B is the preferred option as it reduces the level of disruption to the railway during construction and provides better value for money.

Although the provision of an overpass to Victoria Road is not a requirement of the potential station, the design would allow for this to be provided, either at the same time as the station or at a later date. The decision to proceed with such a link is not confirmed and would be subject to further review and discussion with local stakeholders including residents, landowners and OPDC.

What happens next?

The business case work for the stations is being undertaken at present and further work is required to determine the future operational requirements. In addition, the work is only funded up to the end of the current stage, and investigations are under way to consider how the stations could be fully funded. The outcome of this consultation will inform the business case work, and ultimately will help us determine next steps.

If there is support to build the two stations, and funding is confirmed, powers to build and operate them would need to be secured through a Transport & Works Act Order. As part of this process it is likely the proposals would be examined at a public inquiry before being determined by the Secretary of State for Transport.

Further consultation on the proposals would be carried out before we submit a Transport & Works Act Order.

Public events

We are holding public events to give people the chance to ask questions and meet the project team. These events are taking place at;

The Nadi Park Royal, 260 Old Oak Common Lane, White City, London NW10 6DX

Monday 30 October 12:30 – 19:30
Saturday 4 November 10:30 – 16:00
Monday 6 November 12:30 – 19:30

Have your say

We would like to know what you think about our proposals.

Please give us your views by completing the online survey below by

Alternatively, you can:

·       Email us at consultations@tfl.gov.uk

·      or write to us at FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS

You can also request paper copies of all the consultation materials and a response form by emailing consultations@tfl.gov.uk, or writing to FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS.

The sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Have your say

Online Survey

-->