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Stratford International has been criticised for its wheelchair access provision. The flagship Olympic station will handle tens of thousands of passengers a day in 2012 and sports chiefs insist the games will be the "most inclusive" ever. However, according to youth charity Trailblazers the multi-million pound upgrade has failed to deliver total access. Project manager Bobby Ancil said: "At the moment most disabled people can't necessarily get on to the trains or get into or out of the stations. This needs to be rectified prior to the Olympics." Speaking to the Stratford and Newham Express, charity ambassador Sulaiman Khan, says wheelchair users have to use four lifts to get to platform level and the gaps between trains and platforms are too wide. Several months ago Transport for London lost £64million when it abandoned its "step-free" programme - £39 million was written off at Shepherd's Bush, £5.05m at West Kensington; £3.06m at Ladbroke Grove; $4.6m at Amersham; £3.9m at Greenford; £4.6m at Newbury Park, and just under £4m at Osterley. Khan says the service will be an "embarrassment". A Transport for London spokesman said: "While we would love to provide step-free access, it's not always possible. The stations are accessible for most wheelchair users." These projects could be restarted in the future but at present they are not included in our business plan, which runs until 2017/2018". Mayor Boris Johnson blamed the recession and the collapse of Tube maintenance firm Metronet for the decision to halt the project, saying TfL's budget needed to be targeted at major station redevelopment.
Trailblazers were recognised at the 2010 Charity awards for their work highlighting accessibility issues at leisure centres and on public transport.
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