Long-timers on this group may recall the nutter who claimed that every
station needed to be wheelchair-accessible *right now* and that he could
install a chairlift at Goodge Street and Mornington Crescent for only a
couple of thousand pounds.

He was brought back to my memory recently. Riding the Northern Line
southbound, I was startled when a lady in a wheelchair boarded the train
at Goodge Street, accompanied by a man who, I presume, had bumped the
chair down the steps. They got off, as I did, at Embankment. I last saw
them waiting at the bottom of the escalator for the crowd to thin
before, presumably, ascending it.

So perhaps "accessible" is less of an issue than we thought (which still
doesn't justify ignoring it without good cause).

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004, Clive D. W. Feather wrote:

Riding the Northern Line southbound, I was startled when a lady in a
wheelchair boarded the train at Goodge Street, accompanied by a man who,
I presume, had bumped the chair down the steps. They got off, as I did,
at Embankment. I last saw them waiting at the bottom of the escalator
for the crowd to thin before, presumably, ascending it.

So perhaps "accessible" is less of an issue than we thought (which still
doesn't justify ignoring it without good cause).

Hmm. Whilst i'm not siding with the nutter, i don't think that the
operation you observed is a good solution for wheelchairs on the
underground: firstly because i imagine being bumped up and down stairs is
rather uncomfortable, and secondly because it requires the wheelchair
rider to have a heavily-built travelling companion.

Now, if LU could supply staff at the stations to do the hefting (not
dedicated staff - i'm thinking that normal platform staff could do it),
that would be much better. Still, not ideal.

tom

--
I KNOW WAHT IM TALKING ABOUT SO LISTAN UP AND LISTEN GOOD BECUASE ITS TIEM
TO DROP SOME SCIENTISTS ON YUO!!!

In message , Clive D. W. Feather
writes

Long-timers on this group may recall the nutter who claimed that every
station needed to be wheelchair-accessible *right now* and that he
could install a chairlift at Goodge Street and Mornington Crescent for
only a couple of thousand pounds.

He was brought back to my memory recently. Riding the Northern Line
southbound, I was startled when a lady in a wheelchair boarded the
train at Goodge Street, accompanied by a man who, I presume, had bumped
the chair down the steps.

Not many steps at Goodge Street, though - the lift surfaces at street
level, so it is only the flight from the lift landing down to the
platform.

Also, it is quite possible that the lady concerned had walked down the
short flight of stairs. I recall that my sister, towards the end of a
long terminal illness, could manage to walk a very short distance (even
down a flight of stairs) but would need a wheelchair for anything more
than about 30 yards and was not easily able to stand for more than a
minute or so.

They got off, as I did, at Embankment. I last saw them waiting at the
bottom of the escalator for the crowd to thin before, presumably,
ascending it.

Again, it is quite possible that the lady concerned would have got out
of the wheelchair for the escalator ride. As I recall, the escalator
from the Northern line at embankment runs right up to street level.

So perhaps "accessible" is less of an issue than we thought (which
still doesn't justify ignoring it without good cause).

I think that disability (and thus "accessibility") is a many faceted
thing. Someone like Ade Adepitan (*) could probably take his wheelchair
up an escalator unaided!

(*)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/othe...rt/3700977.stm

--
Paul Terry

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:23:04 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004, Clive D. W. Feather wrote:

Riding the Northern Line southbound, I was startled when a lady in a
wheelchair boarded the train at Goodge Street, accompanied by a man who,
I presume, had bumped the chair down the steps. They got off, as I did,
at Embankment. I last saw them waiting at the bottom of the escalator
for the crowd to thin before, presumably, ascending it.

So perhaps "accessible" is less of an issue than we thought (which still
doesn't justify ignoring it without good cause).

Hmm. Whilst i'm not siding with the nutter, i don't think that the
operation you observed is a good solution for wheelchairs on the
underground: firstly because i imagine being bumped up and down stairs is
rather uncomfortable, and secondly because it requires the wheelchair
rider to have a heavily-built travelling companion.

Am I the only one imagining a 'Little Britain'/Lou & Andy skethc
here...?
--
Nick Cooper

[Carefully remove the detonators from my e-mail address to reply!]

The London Underground at War:
http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/...ra/lu/tuaw.htm
625-Online - classic British television:
http://www.625.org.uk
'Things to Come' - An Incomplete Classic:
http://www.thingstocome.org.uk

Paul Terry ) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

Someone like Ade Adepitan (*) could probably take his wheelchair
up an escalator unaided!

(*)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/othe...rt/3700977.stm

"Ade is training hard to make the squad for Athens"

D'you wanna tell him, or shall I?

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 22 Oct 2004, Clive D. W. Feather wrote:

Riding the Northern Line southbound, I was startled when a lady in a
wheelchair boarded the train at Goodge Street, accompanied by a man who,
I presume, had bumped the chair down the steps. They got off, as I did,
at Embankment. I last saw them waiting at the bottom of the escalator
for the crowd to thin before, presumably, ascending it.

So perhaps "accessible" is less of an issue than we thought (which still
doesn't justify ignoring it without good cause).

Hmm. Whilst i'm not siding with the nutter, i don't think that the
operation you observed is a good solution for wheelchairs on the
underground: firstly because i imagine being bumped up and down stairs is
rather uncomfortable, and secondly because it requires the wheelchair
rider to have a heavily-built travelling companion.

Now, if LU could supply staff at the stations to do the hefting (not
dedicated staff - i'm thinking that normal platform staff could do it),
that would be much better. Still, not ideal.

Or you could encourage people to invest in modern wheelchairs. Have a look
at this thing http://www.independencenow-europe.co...bot/index.html

Tom Anderson wrote to uk.transport.london on Fri, 22 Oct 2004:

Now, if LU could supply staff at the stations to do the hefting (not
dedicated staff - i'm thinking that normal platform staff could do it),
that would be much better. Still, not ideal.

At Clapham Junction they have a special machine to hoist wheelchairs up
the stairs. I've seen it being used (but the poor wheelchair user
couldn't then board the train he wanted as it was too full, much to his
fury!) but can't now remember exactly how it worked. However, I do
remember it was being operated by a far-from-hefty young woman, so it
must have been fairly easy.
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 26 September 2004