Disabled commuters face accessibility issues

“When the strikes have already got on everyone’s nerves, people don’t have the patience to move out of my way or let the driver put the ramp down to let me on.”

Dance teacher and access consultant Katie McConnell uses a wheelchair, and says Tube strikes have made it even harder than normal for her to get around London.

She says a bus driver drove straight past her during the strikes, even though there was a wheelchair space available on board.

TfL claims to have “one of the most accessible bus networks in the world”, and under UK law, wheelchair users have priority for designated wheelchair spaces on buses, and drivers must provide assistance for boarding and alighting.

However, Katie suggests this is not always the case in practice, particularly during strikes, when she says drivers do not have the time or patience to enforce the rules.

Katie’s commute, which would take just 25 minutes for an able-bodied person, normally takes her 45 minutes, and has risen to more than two hours during the strikes.

Consequently, she has had to sacrifice her rest time in order to get to work on time during the strikes, which she says “is not something you ever want to do as a chronically ill person”.

Katie has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, meaning she could get seriously injured if someone falls or bumps into her, and is also autistic, so can find overcrowded buses overwhelming.

“Leaving the house as a young female wheelchair user is already a scary task at the best of times. I have been grabbed in public and people have started pushing my wheelchair without consent,” she says.

Other commuters with health concerns have told BBC London how strikes have made their journeys more difficult, dangerous or even impossible.

They say this is due to reduced space and overcrowding on buses, high demand and cost for taxis, and lack of alternative forms of transport.

Many passengers say they have avoided travelling in and around London during the recent strikes, but for some like Katie, they have no other choice.

Transport for London (TfL) apologised for issues faced by disabled users during strike action, saying they “believe everyone has the right to travel around London safely and comfortably”.

Amelia Peckham, co-founder of Cool Crutches, moved from London to Yorkshire seven years ago due to accessibility issues on public transport.

She still travels to London every other week for work, and says, “travelling in London with a disability is a nightmare on a good day when the Tubes are running.

“A Tube strike immediately makes the whole city inaccessible, and excludes disabled people in a second.”

Amelia had rearranged her plans to avoid being in London this week, saying, “the last time I travelled to London on a strike day, I waited two hours for a taxi which then cancelled when it arrived”.

She believes that taxis are less willing to take disabled passengers during strikes, as it is perceived they will take shorter, cheaper journeys than able-bodied passengers.

Like Amelia, Kate Stanforth has made alternative work plans to avoid being in London during the Tube strikes because overcrowding means “the chances of me getting knocked in my wheelchair and getting hurt or injured are so much higher”, she said, adding: “I’m not willing to take that risk”.

She cites an example during a previous train strike, when someone accidentally hit her on the head with their suitcase.

Kate, a professional dancer and activist who lives in Northumberland, travels regularly for work in London, but says transport in the city is “generally really quite inaccessible”.

“The alternative for not using the Tube to get around is to take a bus, and when you’re on a bus, there’s only one or two wheelchair spaces available, and you are competing with prams, even though we have priority,” she says.

According to TfL, more than a third of Tube stations, more than half of Overground stations, and all of the Elizabeth line and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) stations are step-free.

However, disability rights activists point out that many step-free stations are not always accessible, even outside of strike action, due to broken lifts.

Due to the strikes, step-free access at the Bank DLR station was unavailable, with TfL advising customers to speak to staff to be escorted to alternative access lifts.

TfL said they “run as many services as possible” during strikes, including the bus network, Dial-a-Ride, and a turn up and go service on the Elizabeth line and Overground.

The latter service means that station staff will help customers to plan a step-free journey, assist them through the station and onto the train, and arrange for staff at the destination and any interchanges to support them off the train, it said.