No Go Britain puts Olympics travel to the test

London is gearing up to host the Olympics and Paralympics over the next few months, and the capital and its transport system will be tested as never before.

London 2012 was billed the “most accessible games ever”. But one recent disability advisor to the body in charge of travel, Transport for London (TFL), is not on board: “I’m worried – and so are TFL,” says Ruth Bashall.

“At the moment there is a lot of pressure. Possibly accessible features of system will meltdown and it will become impossible for disabled people to get around.”

Organisers have described London 2012 as “the public transport games” and most spectators are expected to get to Stratford using public transport. This includes an estimated 23,000 people with mobility issues at peak times.

The original Olympic Bid made bold claims: that London’s 21,000 taxis and the entire Docklands Light Railway are “fully accessible to all”; that all of London’s buses are fully accessible as of 2005; and it identified the only constraint as mobility impaired access at every London Underground station.

But weeks before the Games begin, is that really possible for disabled travellers? For the latest part of our No Go Britain series, Channel 4 News has enlisted the help of four disabled people who rely on public transport to get around – they use buses, trains and taxis – all of which will be under greater strain this summer.

“In this latest chapter of No Go Britain, we’ve looked at whether the promises made when London won the bid to stage the Olympic Games have been kept,” writes reporter Katie Razzall.

“We’ve gone full circle in a sense. This subject was our starting point for the journey that became No Go Britain. Originally, we were simply going to look at accessibility when it came to getting to London 2012. But what we discovered made us realise the whole issue of how Britain’s transport network caters for disabled people needed more investigation.”

“This report shows a mixed picture. Clearly a lot of money has been spent updating the network ahead of the Games. But there are still problems when it comes to accessibility – and a former disability advisor to Transport for London told us there could be “meltdown” once the Olympics begin. In 59 days time, we’ll find out.”

Piccadilly Line

Heathrow airport will be many travellers introduction to the Games and is linked to central London via the Piccadilly line, which claims to have 11 step-free stops along its route – that’s the term for a station that is at least partly accessible.

No Go Britain decided to test what “step free” really means with wheelchair user Louise Hickman.

Staff at the station helped Louise onto the platform and she travelled the length of the Piccadilly line trying to get off at every step-free station. The trouble is, there are two kinds of step-free on the tube map: one means accessible from train to street, the other means only from platform to street but there includes a GAP between the train and the platform.

37 stops later and literally at the end of the line, the train turned around with Louise still on it. She had to head back to Heathrow airport, one and a half hours later.

Buses

What about the claim that the capital’s buses would all be accessible by now? Youth worker Zara Todd (pictured left) has started logging every bus journey she takes for the past six months. Out of around 350 journeys, she had problems with about 150 buses, including at least 50 which she failed to get on.

No Go Britain accompanied Zara on a trip to parliament – one of London’s biggest tourist attractions – and uncovered a common problem: TFL’s journey planner advises that wheelchair users can disembark but in reality it is not possible, as the pavement is too high for the ramp to be safely deployed.

“I’m very happy to be coming to opening ceremony, but I’m also terrified about getting to the opening ceremony – because I just think system will be under so much pressure,” said Zara.

Taxis

When it comes to taxis, the original Olympic bid claimed all of London’s black cabs are fully accessible to disabled people. But No Go Britain has spoken to travellers who don’t agree.

Wheelchair user Raya has to travel by taxi because her form of muscular dystrophy means she can’t use other public transport. She says she has problem with around half of the taxi drivers she comes across. “[when] they don’t stop – a bag full of excuses comes out: ‘I don’t have a ramp, my ramp is not working, I’ve hurt my back’,” she says.

She also says some drivers fail to stop for her at all. When No Go Britain accompanied Raya one sunny Monday morning, she was picked up by a number of drivers, but at Trafalgar Square several appeared to drive past.

Your travel plans for the Olympic Games:
@andyhealey Not going week 1, leaving late morning for evening session and whack a few ankles

@JOD45 Avoid the tube!

@PeterThurlow To stay as far away as possible.

@Loobydooby24 train and underground hopefully! Gonna plan loads beforehand as London with a wheelchair aint easy!

Guide dog owners

However this is not just a problem for wheelchair users. Guide dog owners from around the country have told No Go Britain that some taxi drivers are reluctant to take their custom.

“I’ve been refused a few times and been ignored by taxis,” said Marie Haworth from Oldham.

She is coming to the Games and agreed to test out what London cabbies make of her dog, Bailey. Once again things started off ok – at the first two locations Marie was picked up without a problem. And then she reached Pall Mall, where a number of cabs seemed to drive past her.

“Just on today, I don’t feel confident enough to travel by taxi in London with a guide dog,” she told Channel 4 News. “[Transport bosses] really need to go back and assess that.

‘The last thing I can remember is banging my head’

Seasoned campaigner Susan Archibald (see above) lives in Scotland. Last month, she was in London attending a disability rights protest, and found herself using the tube for the first time with her mobility scooter, travelling on the jubilee line from Westminister to Stratford.

Her first experience was a good one, and she arrived at her destination safely. But, the next day, returning to Fife, Susan needed to travel to Kings Cross. She sought advice from staff at Stratford station about whether the route was suitable for her.

She says she spoke to a guard and he told her the route, advising Green Park as an interchange station. But when she reached Green Park and tried to get off the train, things went wrong.

“I tried to reverse back, and I knew that something had happened. And the last thing I can clearly mind [remember] is banging my head. It was just like a huge bang”

In an enormous amount of pain, Susan was admitted to hospital for a week. Now back home in Fife, she is awaiting a referral to a pain clinic.

TFL has apologised – and says that Green Park station will definitely be entirely accessible by the Olympics.

Access became ‘lesser priority’

Despite the obvious issues uncovered by No Go Britain, Ruth Bashall, TFL’s former disability advisor says that London’s taxis and buses are still technically accessible, as they have ramps, handrails, all the things required by legislation.

“But in practice no,” she said. “The system exists but is not reliable.”

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and TFL did initially engage with accessibility issues, she added: “The problem is once the accessible transport strategy had been written, somewhere along the line it shifted into … access as a lesser priority. And access helped us get the bid. I think it slipped down the list of priorities. Lack of money has clearly influenced that.”

TFL acknowledged that there are still improvements to be made to London’s transport system, but TFL Director Howard Collins told Channel 4 News that 1,200 extra staff would be on hand to assist all travellers during the Olympics.

“We worked really hard on some very challenging issues of getting that step fee access to 66 of our stations,” he added. ” But there’s more work to be done, we should not be complacent… Getting people around during Olympics is very important, particularly for people who need support.”

In 2008, an Accessible Transport Strategy detailing plans for getting disabled spectators around was published by the Olympics organisers. But No Go Britain has discovered that a full update hasn’t been published since 2009.

The ODA told Channel 4 News that £6.5bn had been spent on the transport network, including accessibility improvements, and added: “Our accessible transport strategy has been shared with numerous transport experts and disability user groups to ensure it is fit for purpose. Consequently, the option to update the strategy was not needed.”

Millions of pounds have been spent on making London’s underground system more accessible. But as No Go Britain has discovered, whether the 23,000 disabled travellers making their way the Olympics in peak times will be able to rely on public transport to get there, looks unlikely.