Poor disabled access on London's transport will affect 2012 Games

We all know London will host the Olympics in 2012, but many people don't consider the Paralympics, which disabled athletes compete in.

However, the 2012 Paralympics aren't going to go very well if athletes and spectators cannot get to the venues. Of course, there are many disabled spectators at the Olympics as well.

Tom Edwards from the BBC's Mind the Gap blog has made a short film with wheelchair user Sulaiman Khan and his carers.

Edwards follows Khan on a journey from Woodford to Stratford on the Central Line. Stratford, which will be used by many disabled athletes and spectators in 2012.

Khan has trouble getting off the train at step-free Stratford station, due to the long gap between the train and the platform, and has to take four lifts to exit the station.

When using the first lift, he is unable to reach the button, but when his carer tries to gets in this overloads the lift.

You can see the film at the Mind the Gap website (for some reason, there is no option to embed it).

As I wrote in October 2009:

It would have been nice if step-free access had been made a priority, and the replacement of bendy buses, which are actually more disabled-friendly than a packed double-decker, put back or cancelled instead.

Unless step free access is made a priority, as well as improved access from the platform to the street, disabled fans will stay at home (one effect of this will be to lower revenue for both Transport for London and London's economy) and disabled athletes will not be able to get venues or to travel around London).

Tfl's budget might be tight, but investment now will pay off later.

Network Rail also need to invest in step free access at mainline stations,as a reader informs Tom Edwards:

West Ham station serves C2C mainline and Jubilee line Underground but did you know that West Ham has to share a ramp for wheelchair users with Barking station on the C2C line?

What happens if the ramp is needed at both stations at the same time? How pathetic is that and do these ramps cost so much money that it is impossible to buy one for each station?

Website and maps for disabled public transport users in London:

Transport for All is an excellent organisation of disabled and older people lobbying for more accessible public transport.

This map shows every Underground, Overground and Docklands Light Railway station in London. Step-free stations have a little wheelchair symbol.

A map showing the distance between the platform and the train for each step-free Underground and Docklands Light Railway station has also been produced by Transport for London.