Mayor Boris Johnson has confirmed the creation of a £75m fund to install lifts at “around a dozen” Tube stations over the next decade.
The news comes just a day after he and Transport for London announced that all Crossrail stations in London would offer step-free when the rail link commences services in 2019.
TfL says the stations to benefit from the new fund are in addition to the 28 Tube and London Rail stations it had previously committed to making step-free by 2024.
The cash will be used to match contributions from local councils and property developers working on projects in “priority locations” such as West Brompton and White City.
Other stations identified by LU as potential beneficiaries include Mill Hill East, Newbury Park, and Osterley.
Mayor Johnson, said: “Great progress has been made in making an ever-growing number of stations step free, and while the picture is far from perfect, this injection of cash is another step in the right direction.
“As we have also made clear in our pledge to make Crossrail step-free, this is all part of our wider efforts to ensure that London has a transport network that is open and accessible for all.”
London Underground MD, Mike Brown, added, “Through the creation of this £75 million fund we are using innovative ways to find the means of going further faster.
“We are confident that the cooperation we’re already seeing from third parties will continue to grow, so that together we can build a transport network more accessible for London residents and visitors alike.”
The creation of such a fund was recently raised by Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon on behalf of a constituent.
In response the Mayor said there were “some important questions about the feasibility of such an initiative” but agreed to consider it.
ASLEF shrugged says
Back in 2009 TfL cancelled the installation of lifts at West Kensington, Ladbroke Grove, Amersham, Greenford, Newbury Park and Osterley due to lack of funds after they had already spent £25m on preparation work with another £39m spent on Shepherd’s Bush before they realised that installing lifts would be more technically difficult than initially thought.
Add this to the consultation on the Bakerloo Line extension along with the cycling superhighways and it does seem that Boris is desperate to leave some sort of legacy apart from a cable car no one wants, a bus that doubles as a mobile sauna and a bike scheme that has failed to break even as promised.