Mind the gap for wheelchair users on the Elizabeth line | Letter

The tube line has many stations that cannot be independently accessed by wheelchair users, says Dr Anna WallYour article quoting Howard Smith, the Elizabeth line’s director, includes the assertion that the line has level boarding and lifts throughout (A prize worth pursuing: has Elizabeth line shown what rail investment can achieve?, 21 February). I am a full-time wheelchair user, and a glance at a Transport for London map shows that level boarding is not available at stations east of Whitechapel or west of Paddington (with a few exceptions).After these stations, you have to find staff to call ahead and organise a ramp, as the trains are not level with the platform. This line – which opened 27 years after the Disability Discrimination Act and three years after Greater Anglia showed how level boarding can be achieved – has many stations that do not offer level boarding and cannot be independently accessed by wheelchair users. Continue reading...Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei TheGuardian Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei TheGuardian