• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MayorWatch

London News and Comment

  • NEWS

Mayor’s review of Tube guide dog ban welcomed

March 24, 2011 by Staff

London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon has welcomed an undertaking by Mayor Boris Johnson to revise a London Underground by-law banning guide dogs from using moving escalators.

Pidgeon raised the issue at Wednesday’s Mayor’s Question Time session, just a week after a visually impaired member of public used People’s Question Time to tell the Mayor of the difficulties he has in accessing the Tube network.

Although London Underground staff will often provide assistance to visually impaired passengers, including by stopping escalators where possible, their official line is that this may not be possible “at busy times” in case it causes overcrowding.

Where it’s not possible to stop escalators or gain access to platforms via other means visually impaired passengers with assistance dogs are advised to carry the dog down the escalators.

Mayor Johnson told Pidgeon he would ensure the review of the by-law was completed as quickly as possible, potentially opening the way for greater accessibility of the tube network for guide dog users.

Commenting on the Mayor’s undertaking Pidgeon said: “The ban on blind people being able to take a guide dog onto moving escalators is outdated and must be changed. There is now clear evidence that trained guide dogs can safely use moving escalators so ending the insulting service that many blind people currently face when they use the tube.”

Pidgeon also welcomed the Mayor’s announcement that LU was planning to wide aisle tickets gates – which guide dogs are trained to recognise and guide their owners to them – at 100 additional stations over the next 18 months.

However she said the new gates would still mean “one in five tube stations will still lack a basic access facility for many blind people” and called on the Mayor to confirm when all stations would be accessible to guide dog users.

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email

Filed Under: News

RECENT UPDATES

Tube and rail users to benefit from Oyster weekly fares cap

Mayor and TfL call on ministers to help plug funding gap

Tube to get full mobile phone coverage from 2024

TfL says Direct Vision Standard is already making HGVs safer for London road users




POPULAR

City Hall to move to Docklands as Mayor seeks to raise £55m for frontline services

‘Concern’ over TfL’s ability to deliver major projects in wake of Crossrail cost overruns

City Hall halts London Overground ticket office closures but many will still see opening hours reduced

Transport for London confirms bus cuts will go ahead despite passenger opposition

Copyright © 2025 · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy