We won on Crossrail!
Transport for All
Over a year ago, Transport for All...
Over a year ago, Transport for All together with our members and supporters campaigned for London’s newest railway line, Crossrail to be made accessible from the day it opens.
It was originally planned without full step free access and with a price tag of £15billion we asked both Transport for London (TfL) and the Dept of Transport (DfT) how they could justify this.We held a day of action outside of Crossrail’s offices in Canary Wharf that brought together over 150 disabled and older campaigners from across London. Further lobbying, letter writing and protesting led to a U-turn and a commitment by the Government and the Mayor that Crossrail would have full access after all. A feasibility report confirmed what TfA had been estimating – £30 million would be needed to make Crossrail stations in London accessible, a mere 0.02% of its total budget.
For us the next issue was confirming a timetable as time was running out to make Crossrail step free from the day it starts operation in 2019.
On the eve of TfL’s ‘Access for All Event’ (Oct 2nd ) the great news came. The Mayor announced that a funding solution had been found and that all London Crossrail stations would be made step free. We thank the Mayor, TfL and the DfT for listening to disabled and older Londoners. Transport for All are delighted with this campaign win and celebrated with our supporters at Custom House DLR station – which will also be the location for a future Crossrail station.
Together we won an accessible Crossrail. Now we set our sights on Crossrail 2 !
