Plans to ditch boarding ramps on Tube ‘foolish’

Saturday, 22 September 2012

Campaigners want Olympic access ways to be permanent

By Daniel O’Brien

A DISABILITY rights campaigner has called on transport chiefs to abandon their “foolish plans” to remove Olympic access ramps from Edgware and Finchley Central Tube stations.

Wheelchair user Maria Nash, of Berkeley Crescent, East Barnet, has urged Transport For London to keep the manual boarding ramps that were installed for this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The ramps, which were placed at 16 London stations where there is a gap between the train and the platform, were originally supposed to be removed after the Games ended.

However, their warm reception from disabled commuters has prompted TfL to delay the ramps’ removal and review whether they are “permanently viable”.

Mrs Nash, the chairwoman of the Barnet Wheelchair Users group, said the ramps had given a new lease of life to many wheelchair users in the borough.

“It is foolish to remove them,” she told The Press. “They are not only useful but essential for wheelchair users to be able to access the trains.

“We want people to be able to go and use the Underground and public transport and knowing that there is another platform ramp is a huge incentive for people in wheelchairs or with any disability.”

The 67-year-old, whose arthritis has seen her confined to a wheelchair for the past 20 years, said removing the ramps would fly in the face of the spirit of the Paralympic Games.

“It would make a joke of the legacy,” she added. “We are working to ensure that all the good things that happened in the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics are carried on.”

London Underground managing director Mike Brown said the ramps would stay put for at least the next couple of months.

He added: “These ramps have proved to be very useful for our customers and we are going to continue to use them after the Games while we review whether they are permanently viable.”

Email: daniel.obrien@nlhnews.co.uk

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1 comments on this news item

Posted by : DJ, North | Sunday 23/Sep/2012 | Report this comment

Level access throughout !! It’s not hard, it only takes a realignment of the platform. This should have been standard right from the start. The Americans do it on their new metro systems, why can’t we !?