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TfL wastes £64million abandoning disabled access plans on the Tube
Ruth Bloomfield21 Apr 2010
Transport for London has wasted more than £64 million on a collapsed scheme to make seven Tube stations more accessible to disabled passengers and parents pushing buggies.
The full cost of abandoning the “step-free” project — which involved providing lift access from ground level to platform — was revealed in response to an Evening Standard Freedom of Information request.
It found that TfL spent more than £39 million at Shepherd's Bush station alone, including £4.4 million on designs for new lifts and £22 million to contractor Morgan Est, which got as far as building two lift shafts and moving gas and water pipes. Only at that stage was it realised that the project was going to be more technically difficult than initially thought. TfL decided to pull the plug last October.
TfL said in a statement:“Installing a lift at Shepherd's Bush station was always going to be costly and technically challenging because of the layout and condition of the below-ground station.
“The platforms are offset from the ticket hall by some distance, so any lift project would involve extensive tunnelling to link the lift shafts with the platforms. Once enabling work started, it was found that ground conditions and the location of underground utilities were not as anticipated, adding significantly to the cost and difficulty of the work. This eventually led to the project being deferred indefinitely.”
Less-advanced work was halted at six other stations in September last year, because TfL realised it did not have the funds to complete it. They are: West Kensington, where £5.05 million had been spent; Ladbroke Grove (£3.06 million); Amersham (£4.6 million); Greenford (£3.9 million); Newbury Park (£4.6 million), and Osterley (just under £4 million).
Work was stopped at this point “to avoid further impacting the customer environment and to avoid incurring unnecessary construction or reinstatement costs”, explained TfL.
The scheme's collapse means that wheelchair users and parents with buggies will not have lift access to platforms for the foreseeable future. “These projects could be restarted in the future but at present they are not included in our business plan, which runs until 2017/2018,” added TfL.
Last year, Mayor Boris Johnson blamed the recession and the collapse of Tube maintenance firm Metronet for the decision to halt the project, saying TfL's budget needed to be targeted at major station redevelopment.
Metronet, a private sector consortium responsible for maintaining two thirds of the Tube network, went bust two years ago with debts of £2 billion.
Reader views (13)
In response to the comment from Chris, Hammersmith, 21/04/2010. I know a little about these jobs, the money wasn't just spent on clearing vegetation. What you didn't see was the massive amount of design work that was done a year before this clearance work took place. This included designs for bridges, lift shafts, electrical installations, cable diversions etc, the list goes on. In addition there was work undertaken to explore ground conditions called geotechnical surveys, digging also took place to undertake intrusive surveys of the ground where lift shafts and bridge foundations were to be built, temporary works were also undertake to protect signalling cables and install site cabins. Give the contractors a break; they worked extremely hard for a period of about 18 months before you saw vegetation clearance taking place.
- Anon, London, 29/04/2010 12:55
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And when will there be step-free access at Willesden Green?
- E Thompson, London, England, 24/04/2010 12:14
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So much Other Peoples Money has been wasted abandoning the disable access by TFL that the person in change should be reported to the Fraud squad. Our fares could have been reduced or the service improved with the £64 Million spent on abandoning the seven schemes. At Amersham we have very nice new bike racks for the £4.6 million wasted.
I wonder what sort of bonus was paid for that.
Any way building expensive bridges to give step free access to the other platforms can easily be overcome by using the old level crossing at the end of the platforms. The electric conductor rails have a break there and it surely is not impossible to work out a safe way to control pedestrians with wheelchairs and luggage so they can walk over the lines. This would cost a fraction compared to the bridges and electric lifts. The ends of platform have ramps at most stations and the whole net work could easily be provided for at a fraction of the price.
Maybe the might of the Evening Standard can help to make it happen in time for the Olympics. The whole of the London Underground system could be accessible to the disabled.
- Peter Schweiger, Amersham Bucks, 21/04/2010 20:31
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With minimum wage at £6 an hour, assuming a 35 hour work week, 52 weeks a year, the wasted £64 million could have been spent paying 586
luggage/buggie/wheelchair attendants to carry things / people up and down the steps for the next 10 years.
- S O'Connor, Princes Risborough, 21/04/2010 19:10
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What ignorance - my friend paralysed from waist down by hit and run driver - so she may not ever use or expect to the tube?. As if life wasn't tough enough for her already
- Julie, London, England, 21/04/2010 16:16
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Fascinating. I live around the corner from West Kensington station. Last yer sometime, contrctors spent about two weeks cuttingt back vegetation on Cromwell Road where the new entrance was going to be put. Nothing else was done. Even if you allow some money for the cost of planning, it is hard to possibly understand how this cost £5.05 million. My father is a contractor, and the work i saw should have cost no more than about £4,000. This difference is spectacular. I think we should be exposing the bids put in by contractors for TfL works, and whether we are getting value for money. This is wasting my money on a spectacular scale. chris
- chris, Hammersmith, 21/04/2010 14:59
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Melvyn Windebank, makes a very Valid Point:
Why WASTE MILLIONS on replacing the BENDY-BUSES;
NEBULOUS Plans for a 'NEW' ROUTEMASTER;
Wasting a further £ 19--MILLION POUNDS Already Spent,
By Cancelling CROSS-RIVER TRAM
(linking CAMDEN TOWN, EUSTON, KINGS CROSS, EURO-STAR TERMINAL, ST PANCRAS, WATERLOO, LAMBETH, BRIXTON, CLAPHAM, ELEPHANT & CASTLE, PECKHAM);
BORIS's WASTE ... WASTE ... WASTE... !!!
CROSS-RAIL ... B E W A R E !!!
- ROGER BAILEY, GROVE PARK, London, 21/04/2010 14:14
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What happens to wheelcair users who are unlucky enough to be on trains which break down in tunnels?
I have had to walk through tunnels from broken down trains 3 times in the last 30 years,I dread to think what would have happened if I was in a wheelchair.
There is obviously a reason why the underground discourage wheelchair users,should we not just accept that disabled people can not do everything that able bodied can do?
I understand there is a dedicated bus service(dial-a-ride) specifically for the old and disabled,operated by London Transport,I do not begrudge them this service,even though I am not eligible to use it.
- Bill Pitt, Victoria, 21/04/2010 13:03
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I can remember seeing some 15 or more years ago , a huge crablike contraption , that 'walked' a woman who sat on it down the stairs of the station. This was done with a number of staff in attendance and the station entrance closed.I thought then what a waste of money for one person 'making a statement' , cheaper to pay a taxi home.But this is all 'politics' the vast majority have to be inconvenienced to satisfy a tiny minority , bendy buses and all.
- chris m, morbihan,france, 21/04/2010 12:21
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Why waste millions trying to make Shepherds Bush Station step free when much lesswould be needed at White City (central line) Station which is at sub surface level?
Shepherds Bush would need a brand new 2nd entrance to make the scheme viable.
As for the abandonment of other schemes and the waste involved thats the price of electing a Tory Mayor who chooses to waste money on replacing perfectly good buses instead of permenent upgrades to the tube.
If you thik this is wasteful then just wait for Cameron to messup Crossrail we will then see billions wasted and remember schemes like Farringdon and TCR have to built at the same time otherwise they will NEVER happen!
I notice most of these schemes are in west london but have heard no complaints from the west london residents association I suppose they are still waiting for Boris to remove the WEZ and reduce funding for schemes even further!!!
Hopefully and before the election someone will look into the real cost of stopping crossrail and the damage it will cause to London given that without it Canary Whalf cant grow as the public transport is already near capacity!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 21/04/2010 12:08
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what about the lift at Waterloo which is suppose to connect the Waterloo and city line with a step free access to the ticket hall and after installing the bloody thing, they realise it doesnt fit a buggy in it...! You'd think someone would have a look at that before they started installing the lift?
- Josh, London, 21/04/2010 11:48
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i know this will get me flamed but....
does everywhere have to be accessible to everyone? it would be great if that could happen but the very nature of the underground makes it very difficult to navigate even for able bodied travellers. also what happens in an emergency? the buses are getting better (i think) for wheelchair users so it isnt as if the tube is the only option.
- Aesir, London, 21/04/2010 11:47
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oh come on, give them a break. Shepherds bush station first opened 110 years ago, and there is a huge legacy of unmapped utility pipelines.
- jonathan, london, 21/04/2010 10:33
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