Examination of Witnesses (Questions 840
- 859)
840. MR REED: Perhaps I can try and understand
your Lordship's concern on that so that we can make sure that
we get the right figures, if we are able to disaggregate it, because,
as I understand it, the figures that we have are in respect of
those who are in receipt of disabled student allowance.
(Mr West) That is correct. That is my understanding of the
information that has been provided to me, yes.
841. What I do not know, my Lord, is whether
Mr West can give us some information as to the extent to which
that is capable of disaggregation in any way. Is it possible,
Mr West, do you know?
(Mr West) I will endeavour to get the information and supply
that to you, my Lord.
842. CHAIRMAN: Mr Reed, you cannot do
it now, but I think really in terms of your Petition about accessibility
at Maryland and Manor Park, we will have to have some more particularity
about these figures and about the number of people who would actually
be affected by steps and the absence of lifts and that sort of
thing. At the moment, it is a very broad generality and, although
of course we understand about disability, there is a particular
point here which needs to be explored, I think.
843. MR REED: My Lord, yes. If it is
capable of disaggregation, I am sure that Mr West will do it if
he is able to. He has certainly heard the request of the Committee.
844. BARONESS FOOKES: But, my Lord Chairman,
the nub of the argument being advanced is the concern over inaccessibility
by virtue of the fact that there are steps, so any figures that
relate to that are extremely important and central to the case,
I would have thought.
845. MR REED: Indeed.
846. CHAIRMAN: You will not be able to
do it today, but we are not going to be reporting on your Petition
today, so there is a little bit of time.
847. MR REED: Is there anything else
you want to say on the University at this stage, Mr West?
(Mr West) No, I think that is all I have got to say for the
moment.
848. Can we turn then to some matters relating
to accessibility policy please and perhaps you can give a brief
outline of the extent to which any policy documents that are referable
to London indicate the need or otherwise for enhancing accessibility.
(Mr West) The Disability Discrimination
Act 1995 seeks to ensure that disabled people are not discriminated
against when accessing employment, goods and services. In transport
and travel terms, this means a substantial and long-term adverse
effect upon the disabled person's ability to gain access to, or
travel independently on, transport systems, notably public transport.
The Greater London Act 1999 places a duty on the Mayor to include
in his Transport Strategy "proposals for the provision of
transport which is accessible to persons with mobility problems"
and "to specify a timetable for implementation of these proposals".
The Council notes that the Promoters intend to provide access
for people with disabilities at Custom House Station, which is
on the Royals branch, and the Pudding Mill Lane Station, which
is on the Stratford branch, within the borough. In addition, Forest
Gate was included as an addition to this list as part of the amendment
of provisions in 2006. Consequently, the stations of Maryland
and Manor Park would continue with their current, i.e. inaccessible,
provision. The Promoters further state in Information Paper E5,
which was referred to this morning, that existing stations which
are not being altered by Crossrail, apart from platform extensions,
are the responsibility of Network Rail and the relevant train
operators to be brought up to the required standard. In December
2005, the Promoters published an Equality Impact Assessment. This
states, "No disability impacts were included in the initial
screening because it indicated that they were overwhelmingly positive".
Chapter 3 describes the likely equality benefits and paragraph
3.1.3 states, "Existing stations served by Crossrail will
be refurbished to cater for PRM where it is reasonably practicable
to do so".
849. We obviously heard from Dr Maynard this
morning. In terms of that approach and how it compares with the
approach taken in Information Paper E5, what do you say about
the Crossrail approach and the extent to which it does compare?
(Mr West) I think there is still a long
way to go.
850. In terms of the Mayor's Transport Strategy,
are there any matters that you want to raise in respect of that
and the extent to which that encourages the upgrading of stations
generally or accessibility generally?
(Mr West) The only point I would add,
my Lord Chairman, is that the Mayor's Transport Strategy does
specify a timetable for implementation and I would argue that
this should also relate to Crossrail which, after all, is a Bill
which has amongst one of its sponsors Transport for London. I
have not been made aware of any reference to a timetable for implementation
of any accessible proposals on the railway.
851. Let's turn to Manor Park Station please
and slide 9.[40]
Can you give some detail please to the Committee about the nature
of Manor Park generally please?
(Mr West) Manor Park Station is situated within
Zone 3. The areas around the station consist of a mixture of residential,
commercial and light industrial use. The City of London Cemetery
is situated approximately 700 metres to the west of the station
with Wanstead Flats to the north. The Council has a local service
centre to the south, which is one of eight such centres in the
borough.[41]
It provides comprehensive advice and information on all council
services, including housing benefit, housing repairs and social
services referrals.
852. What is the relevance of that in this case,
Mr West?
(Mr West) I think the relevance of that is that a number
of council residents, local residents, will be using the local
service centre and a number of local residents will be accessing
the local centre from all around the borough and having an accessible
station which is only 100 or so yards away from the local service
centre would be of great benefit to improving the local accessibility
to that centre.
853. If we turn to the next slide, we can see
there that there is a bus stop existing at Manor Park.[42]
The Promoters have referred to bus accessibility from Manor Park
Station or the Manor Park Station area generally and the closest
Crossrail stations to Manor Park. What comments do you have about
the degree to which there is an accessible link through to step-free
Crossrail stations?
(Mr West) My Lord Chairman, we are quite fortunate
at Manor Park in that the station has two accessible bus stops
in close proximity to its main entrance. This is the stop for
services going northbound towards Wanstead and that is only about
20 or 30 metres away from the station. It is a well-designed bus
stop which is fully accessible. The stop on the opposite side
of the road is also accessible and, as you saw on a previous slide
which showed the entrance to Manor Park Station, there is easy
access to both sides of the road with a step-free crossing with
tactile paving and a properly accessible crossing.
854. Aside from the accessibility of Manor Park
Station, what about getting from Manor Park Station to, say, Forest
Gate Station? Do you know what the position is in respect of that?
(Mr West) The Promoters' suggestion of the use of Forest
Gate as an alternative has been considered. This lies approximately
960 metres away from Manor Park Station and Forest Gate Station
cannot be reached by direct bus without one change. The alternative
is a walk distance of 150 metres from the nearest bus stops on
Romford Road, and perhaps if we could go on to the next slide,
this illustrates the point.[43]
That is the station at Forest Gate and, as you can see from that
slide, the bus stops are a considerable distance away. If you
imagine that you are coming from Manor Park Station or from near
Manor Park Station to Forest Gate by bus, as suggested by the
Promoters as the nearest alternative accessible station, you will
see that the bus stop from Manor Park is not particularly close
to the station. If you look at the next slide, you will see the
Romford Road junction which is the next junction down and the
westbound stop where you would alight from the bus coming from
Manor Park to go to Forest Gate is actually so far in the picture
that you cannot actually see it. To actually point out where it
is, if you look at the centre of the slide, you see a white building
and in front of that white building is a bus shelter and that
is the nearest accessible bus stop coming by bus from Manor Park
to Forest Gate Station.[44]
855. LORD YOUNG OF NORWOOD GREEN: How
far is that to Forest Gate Station?
(Mr West) The walk to Forest Gate Station from there is about
150 metres, but it involves obviously crossing a busy junction
as well.
856. MR REED: So there is a distance
of 970 metres with the two changes of bus? Is that right?
(Mr West) Yes, well, one change of bus, so you take two buses.
857. Yes, you take two buses, one change. You
have gone on to slide 18, but can we go back please to slide 12
which is, I think, where we last were. You were describing the
bus stop and we are now looking at the booking hall, is that right?[45]
(Mr West) Yes, my Lords. Moving on to the actual
physical layout of Manor Park Station, which you see on this slide
here, this slide shows the station's booking hall, which is at-grade
and very accessible. There are no steps to access the booking
hall. Following on from that is a step-free concourse on the next
slide which leads to the stairs leading to the London-bound platform,
that is platform 1; and then to the island platforms, platforms
2 and 3, which are shown on the left slide and on this slide as
well.[46],[47]
These are the island platforms at Manor Park Station. It is quite
an easy walk route, albeit not accessible because of the absence
of lifts.
858. In terms of your understanding of what
works are proposed at Manor Park, what do you understand to be
the case at the present time?
(Mr West) My understanding from the information that we have
received from the Promoters to date is that substantial investment
is being made at Manor Park Station. The platforms are proposed
to be lengthened to accommodate ten-car Crossrail trains. The
platforms are also to be extended eastwards and westwards to a
total length of 205 metres. Particularly the platform on the right,
platform 1 on the next slide, slide 15, the staircase will be
actually removed, the passing freight passing loop also removed
and a completely new staircase to add to platform 1 built.[48]
So there is considerable investment being made by the Promoters
at Manor Park Station.
859. That is the position as was stated in what
document, Mr West?
(Mr West) That was the position as stated
in the original Crossrail documents, as published with the Bill.
40 Committee Ref: A2, Manor Park Station (NEWMLB-53_05-009) Back
41
Committee Ref: A2, Manor Park-Local Service Centre (NEWMLB-53_05-010) Back
42
Committee Ref: A2, Bus Stop for Manor Park Station (NEWMLB-53_05-011) Back
43
Committee Ref: A2, Forest Gate Station-Walk/ Bus route to Manor
Park and Romford Road Bus Stops (NEWMLB-53_05-017) Back
44
Committee Ref: A2, Forest Gate Station-Westbound Bus Stop on
Romford Road (NEWMLB-53_05-018) Back
45
Committee Ref: A2, Booking Hall-Manor Park (NEWMLB-53_05-012) Back
46
Committee Ref: A2, Manor Park-Concourse (NEWMLB-53_05-013) Back
47
Committee Ref: A2, Lack of Accessibility-Manor Park (NEWMLB-53_05-014) Back
48
Committee Ref: A2, Manor Park-Island Platform (NEWMLB-53_05-015) Back
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