“Inspiring milestone” reached in step-free Underground access

New lifts installed at Sudbury Hill make it the 90^th Tube station to have step-free access.

The Grade-II listed station, on the Piccadilly line, now has two new lifts and better signage to help people get to the platforms.

Travellers also have continued access to boarding ramps and the help of tactile paving – as well as in-person assistance from Transport for London (TfL) staff.

As part of improvements, the ticket hall has been upgraded in keeping with its original architecture, and a redundant ticket office has been removed. In keeping with the 1930s building, bricks of a similar type were used to create the lift shafts, and a new window was specified to match its older counterparts.

The project at Sudbury Hill brings the number of step-free stations on the Tube to 90 following Osterley Tube station, also on the Piccadilly line. This station got step-free facilities in October. Two step-free stations on the Northern Line Extension, at Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station, opened in September.

Earlier in 2021, step-free access had also been introduced at Underground stations at Wimbledon Park (in August), Ickenham (in June), Debden (in April) and Amersham (in February). In preparation for the Elizabeth line, Ealing Broadway became step-free in May 2021, and Whitechapel became step-free when the original station entrance on Whitechapel Road re-opened in August 2021. 

Work is underway also to make Harrow-on-the-Hill Tube station step-free.

This year, TfL will deliver a range of step-free projects currently under construction. This includes full step-free access at Knightsbridge, as part of a majority third-party funded development scheme, and to the Northern line at Moorgate, which became step-free to the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines earlier this year via the recently opened station entrance. TfL is also progressing step-free access work that will make busy Zone 1 stations partially step-free in 2022. These are at Bank (Northern line and DLR Interchange only) and Paddington (Bakerloo line only).

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “The improvements at Sudbury Hill station will make a huge difference for all those using it, from the modernised ticket hall and improved signage to step-free access for those who need it. It marks 90 Tube stations now being step-free, which is an inspiring milestone – and we continue to work to make the capital’s public transport network accessible to all.”

Esther Sharples, London Underground’s director of asset performance and capital delivery, said: ”Sudbury Hill Tube station becoming step-free is another milestone in our pledge to make the Underground network more accessible and a further boost to Piccadilly line customers after Osterley and Ickenham also became step-free earlier this year. People with reduced mobility, including those with children in buggies or carrying heavy luggage, can now access the Tube with greater ease at Sudbury Hill, improving their journeys.”  

A TfL consultation into step-free accessibility is underway here.

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