In article , Paul Corfield
writes
On Thu, 8 Apr 2004 07:17:38 +0100, "John Rowland"
wrote:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3595351.stm

London Underground (LU) has been warned that it could be sued by disabled
people if it does not improve access for them by October.
By then the part of the Disability Discrimination Act which governs access
to transport will come into force.

All jolly interesting but someone should check the article and look at
the grounds for being able to sue. If the organisation has plans in
place - and LUL does and has had a policy in place for years - then they
cannot be successfully sued. While I accept such access is important the
legislators did recognise that none of these improvements can be
delivered overnight or at the cost of other vital expenditure - like
replacing worn out track, trains and signals.

The improvements to the bus network that have been funded by TfL provide
good access to those who are mobility impaired and is an adequate
alternative until such time as LUL is properly funded to allow for the
huge works that are needed to rectify the problems inherent in a network
as old as the Underground.

And before anyone jumps down my throat these remarks are mine and not
those of LUL.

I really think people have lost the plot on this one. I'm all for full
disabled access to everything including theatres, the tube, cinemas etc
but the LU is over 100 years old. It was never designed for disabled
passengers. OK, so all the work is done to get wheelchairs down to the
platforms, how do they get across the gap on curved platforms to the
carriage?

LU is working to improve things but it is under funded, dogged by poor
management, heavy legislation and is creaking at the seams from years of
neglect.

And the disabled lobby want it fixed by October? It would take that long
to work out some potential access routes at the stations, let alone
tender the work etc.
--
Andrew
Electronic communications can be altered and therefore the integrity of this
communication can not be guaranteed.
Views expressed in this communication are those of the author and not
associations or companies I am involved with.