Six more Tube stations to be made step-free in drive to make travel more accessible

Six more stations are to be made step-free as part of a £200m investment programme to make Tube travel more accessible over the next five years.

They are Amersham, Buckhurst Hill, Cockfosters, Mill Hill East, Osterley and South Woodford.

This will bring the total number of stations with step-free access to platforms to more than 100 – but even so means more than half the 260 LU-owned stations remain inaccessible for many users.

Gordon Deuchars, policy and campaigns managers for Age UK London, said: “An accessible Tube network is vital for older people. It means they can see friends and family, have a more active social life and make the most of everything London has to offer.”

It comes as Tube contractors were today ordered to come up with their own ideas for installing step-free access when they bid for multi-million pound station improvement contracts.

London Underground (LU) says the “market-led” approach will help keep down prices by increasing competition and speed-up accessibility work across the network.

A spokesman said: “Suppliers will be asked to devise step-free solutions that can be replicated across many different stations.

“This will deliver better value for money, encourage greater use of new technologies and increase competition between companies bidding for the work.”