Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member, commenting on today’s announcement by the Mayor of London confirming £200 million investment in step-free access on the London Underground over the next five years and with work on Harrow on the Hill and Newbury Park stations being brought forward to 2017 said:

“Improvements to access on the underground is very welcome.  It is encouraging that whereas Boris Johnson cancelled step-free schemes at the beginning of his office the current Mayor is bringing them forward.

“However, we should be under no illusion that this announcement alone will deliver a fully accessible London Underground.

“In addition to too few stations being step-free there are massive issues due to a myriad of problems such as platforms not being level with trains, poor signage, staff being difficult to identify and lifts suddenly being out of operation due to a lack of trained staff.”

“The Mayor needs to ensure these issues start to be fully addressed within a year, not five years.”