TfL has outlined six London Underground stations to be given step-free access under the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's £200m investment plan, which aims to make Tube travel more accessible over the next five years.
The stations named under the initiative are Amersham, Buckhurst Hill, Cockfosters, Mill Hill East, Osterley and South Woodford. The six stations witness a combined 5.5 million journeys annually.
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Two outer London stations, Newbury Park and Harrow-on-the-Hill, were previously confirmed for upgrade last year.
Work is set to commence at Buckhurst Hill on the Central line this year, while the other stations will be upgraded in 2018.
Step-free access is expected to be completed at all six stations by 2020.
Khan said: “I'm delighted that I can today announce that we will be bringing step-free access to these stations.
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By GlobalData“It's absolutely vital that we make our transport network accessible to all, and by investing more in step-free access than ever before, we're doing what we can to help people right across the Capital.”
The £200m investment is scheduled to bring the total number of Underground stations with step-free access for all platforms to more than 100, comprising around 40% of the entire network.
The initiative is expected to improve the accessibility of the Tube, especially for elderly and disabled people.
London Underground managing director Mark Wild said: “Improving accessibility across London to enable all Londoners and visitors to the city to travel spontaneously and independently is one of our top priorities.
“We have made good progress, but we're determined to accelerate the pace so that this vision becomes a reality for the millions of people who use our network every day.
“We are investing more than ever before and I'm delighted that we're now in a position to confirm the next tranche of stations to benefit from this unprecedented investment.”
Step-free access has also been introduced at several other major Tube stations, including Tower Hill and Vauxhall, while work at Bromley-by-Bow is currently underway.
The new Elizabeth line is scheduled to open in 2019 and is also anticipated to increase accessibility of London's transport network, as every station will be designed to facilitate step-free access.
