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