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Only 10 out of 270 Tube stations are completely step free, half of London busses are not up to scratch and two thirds of rail stations are inaccessible for Londoners with mobility issues, a report has revealed.
The London Assembly said large sections of the transport network are off limits to one in ten with mobility issues and that step-free access to stations falls far short of demand.
Val Shawcross AM, chairwoman of the transport committee, called the situation "simply unacceptable".
Transport for London said it was already improving areas mentioned by the report. and claim 60 stations are step free, not 10. A Transport for London spokesman said: "We are grateful to the Assembly for its recognition of the improvements we are making to accessibility on the transport network. "We are already taking forward improvements in many of the areas referred to by the committee.
"We have the most accessible bus network in the UK. The number of Tube stations with level access from street to train is more than three times that stated in the report."
The study claimed:
• Only 10 of London's 270 Tube stations are completely step-free all the way from street level to train.
• Just one third of London's 300 rail stations have step-free access from street to platform.
• While all London's buses now have ramps, only half of London's 17,476 bus stops meet the criteria for full accessibility.
Ms Shawcross added "The fact that hundreds of thousands of Londoners cannot use the public transport network with relative ease is simply unacceptable.
"Transport for London must get on top of the situation now or risk leaving an increasing number of people excluded from travelling on trains, Tubes and buses." Spending cuts hit projects
During the summer London Underground managing director Mike Brown admitted that plans to provide step free access to a third of London’s Tube stations had been ditched ahead of talks about spending cuts.
At the time Brown said: “It is tough, but it is really difficult to foresee a time when step-free access will be where we want it to be.
“Even getting to a position where there are a number of stations across the network that could act as hubs [for disabled people to change transport modes] now seems ambitious.”
TfL’s 2009/10 business plan says that it has had to stop step-free work at six stations.
Instead, TfL has decided to protect major schemes at Victoria, Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road which will include step-free access.
Providing accessibility at the key 2012 Olympic Games stations at Green Park and Southfields is also a priority.
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