Examination of Witnesses (Questions 540
- 559)
540. A filled green blob indicates 100 per cent
step-free access; a half green blob indicates 50 per cent step-free
access, and that was the problem discussed earlier—you can
get to one side of the station but not cross the track; an empty
red blob means that there is no step-free access to any of the
platforms. As you can see today very few of these locations are
accessible to people with restricted mobility who need step-free
access.
541. This is the slide you have seen before.[16]
You can see from this one the effect that Crossrail will have
on the ability of people who need step-free access to get to and
from the locations on the diagram.
542. One of the things I would like to add to
what was said before was, with a half green blob one of the provisions
in the Disability Discrimination Act is that of reasonable alternative
provision; and at the moment on the national rail network the
way that is effected is that an operator will provide a taxi for
a disabled person if it is not reasonable for them to do that
transfer up to the next accessible station and back again. They
will provide a taxi back from the accessible station to the one
on which they boarded originally.
543. There are still a few locations where Crossrail
does not provide step-free access. We believe that the negative
effect on people with restricted mobility will be minimal because
of the proximity of Crossrail stations where step-free access
is being provided. This is exactly the issue we are dealing with
today. Many of these stations provide interchange with other transport
modes, such as the bus terminals at Ilford and Romford. Others
provide better ticketing facilities, more staff assistance (which
is important for disabled people), and generally because of their
larger size and greater importance to the network better stations
to use, and many people prefer to use them as evidenced by the
greater passenger numbers passing through these locations, and
Stratford would be one of those.
544. Crossrail has looked at the nature of transport
links to the stations from the surrounding area and is satisfied
that, even now, there are sufficient bus routes to make the access
straightforward. Given that Transport for London is one of Crossrail's
owners and is also the body that regulates bus routes in London,
we are satisfied that the picture will improve, if indeed it needs
to improve, rather than deteriorate.
545. Making a station accessible involves a
number of thorny, practical issues, such as the available space—it
may not be physically possible to incorporate a lift or ramp within
the given space available.
546. The level of use versus the expense in
providing access, the business case, is also an important consideration,
although it is not the only one.
547. The Access for All programme, for example,
takes such issues into consideration when it selects stations
to upgrade. If you take something like Clapham Junction, which
calls itself the busiest station in Britain, it is likely to cost
£10 million plus. If you look at the Access for All funding,
which is £365 million over ten years for 220 stations, that
is a large proportion.
548. Making a journey experience seamless for
people with restricted mobility will have to involve working with
partner organisations such as London Underground and Network Rail,
and also a level of investment by them. Although it is still not
clear at this stage how much partners will have achieved by the
time Crossrail completes, much work has been done already looking
at, for example, London Underground's existing interchange plans,
and the proposed stations that are going to benefit from Access
for All money.
549. Crossrail is going to continue to take
a proactive approach to engaging partners in its planning process.
In addition, agreement has been reached that where changes are
made to national rail stations at which Crossrail will call those
changes will be delivered by Network Rail; and where changes are
to London Underground interchanges those changes will be delivered
by London Underground. That is an efficient way to achieve access,
drawing on those partners' existing expertise. At Tottenham Court
Road, Crossrail has worked with LUL to provide a station with
fully accessible ticket halls, with accessible links to the Central
and Northern Lines from street to platforms, and with interchange
between all three lines. That is an example of good practice engagement
between partners. At Paddington, as was mentioned earlier and
as I, also, mentioned, there is passive provision for lifts being
made where it is not currently possible to provide step-free access
when Crossrail first opens.
550. This is an example of a rebuild that will
provide a significant improvement for people with restricted mobility,
and it is at Ealing Broadway. These are just a couple of pictures
I produce now.[17]
As you can see, they are all of steps. Here is the artist's representation
of what those two aspects of Ealing Broadway, as it currently
is, will look like once Crossrail has finished with it.[18]
Access has been a very long time coming at Ealing Broadway, and
it is Crossrail that is going to make the difference.
551. I did mention at the beginning that Crossrail
recognises that accessibility is not just about wheelchair users,
walking difficulties and step-free access. However, today's issue,
because of the design stage, is essentially about step-free access.
The fundamentals of the infrastructure, such as straightforward
layout, which is only possible in a brand new build, and that
assists many disabled people but, particularly, those with learning
difficulties, and step-free access, need to be designed in from
the outset, and Crossrail has focused on that so far. Now that
the design is maturing and developing, Crossrail is going to be
looking at other fixtures important to access, which are things
like seating, and eventually it is going to be looking at, for
example, colour and materials, which are of particular interest
to people with visual impairments.
552. Towards the end of the project, as the
provision of information including signage is considered, the
needs of people with sensory impairments and learning difficulties
will become paramount. Crossrail's programme of involvement and
consultation is going to be key throughout the project to engage
the right people at the right time to provide good advice where
there are no standards or accepted good practice. Indeed, Crossrail
is going to be contributing to developing those good practice
standards for as long as it operates at the cutting edge of design
for disabled people in the transport environment.
553. Finally, I would just like to say that
access is not just about the hard stuff. When Crossrail opens,
good management of both the station infrastructure and vehicles
will be crucial in providing an accessible service, as is training,
effective co-ordination with interfacing operators, journey planning
and assistance, and as the specification for Crossrail's operation
is developed this must be borne in mind. Thank you.
554. MS LIEVEN: My Lord, Dr Maynard is
happy to answer questions. I do not know whether Mr Reed has questions
for her.
555. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: No reference
has been made to the close proximity of three major football grounds
within the area of these stations, and I am concerned as to what
the impact might be of anybody in a handicapped situation trying
to travel while there were hordes of rather robust football supporters
trying to gain access or travel on the same trains. Has any thought
been given to that and what protection might be afforded, and
whether the stations themselves are in any way likely to be vulnerable
to having made football rioting easier because it has opened out
the space for fighting?
556. MS LIEVEN: My Lord, I do not know
whether Dr Maynard is that familiar with the area of these particular
stations. It may be that Mr Berryman will be better placed to
answer those questions.
557. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: I would
be very concerned to know the answer to this because I have had
some experience of rioting to be controlled and I know that it
is a near-impossible situation, and that they will take any opportunity
for an open space to get stuck into each other. I am just wondering
whether we have created a situation here where we have created
natural battlegrounds.
558. MS LIEVEN: My Lord, I am not trying
to avoid the question, I just suspect that Mr Berryman would be
the better person to answer it.
559. LORD JAMES OF BLACKHEATH: I would
like the question noted for future reference.
16 Crossrail Ref: P8, Crossrail Line 1-Diagram 2-step-free
access to Crossrail stopping platforms (LINEWD-XR4-012) Back
17
Crossrail Ref: P8, An example: Ealing Broadway (LINEWD-XR4-014) Back
18
Crossrail Ref: P8, Ealing Broadway as it will be (LINEWD-XR4-015) Back
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