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Old December 21st 04, 04:15 PM posted to uk.transport.london
Brimstone Brimstone is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Apr 2004
Posts: 668
Default Lowering tube floors to allow wheelchair access?


"Michael Bell" wrote in message
...
In article .com, Boltar
wrote:

Michael Bell wrote:
There is (or maybe was) a project to lower the floors of new tube stock
and/or maybe only the trailers of existing stock by redesign and
fitting
smaller wheels - only fitting smaller wheels in the case of existing
stock - to allow wheelchair access, and much more commerically
important,
though with no legal need, to make it easier to use children's
pushchairs
and shopping trolleys.


Can't see how they'd do it. Theres little enough room under the floors
for
the equipment as it is.


I've seen drawings of the proposals. I must look for the book I saw it in.
If you do this only on trailer cars, smaller wheels are not a problem. It
would be quite enough for wheelchair, pushchair and shopping trolley
access
to have only half the vehicles with platform-level floors, and well
distributed along the length of the train. But the plan was for the WHOLE
train be lowered in new stock.

Also , what happens at stations where the platform is already at the
level
of or higher than the trains floor such as the new section of the jubilee
line , the bakerloo north of queens park, some on the piccadily etc..?


Ah yes. There is indeed a problem. But you notice that after a burst of
enthusiasm for raised platforms, things have gone quiet. Second thoughts?
Investigations into other possibilities?


Or alternatively, an appraisal of the system followed by an understanding of
the possibilities?