Access denied: wheelchair metro maps versus everyone else's

The metro can be the quickest way to get around many big cities. Unless you’re in a wheelchair.

Although it has invested recently in improving accessibility, the London Underground – the world’s oldest metro, opened in 1863 – still only has 71 out 270 tube stations accessible by wheelchair or mobility scooter from street to platform. Given that 21 of those require ramps and staff assistance to board trains, the number of fully accessible stations – which people in wheelchairs can use independently – is just 50.

“Some of the network is more than 150 years old – accessibility wasn’t even considered worth thinking about then,” says Transport for London spokesman Ruben Govinden. “And in some cases there’s physically not the space, given the number of users, to make the station step-free from street to train.”

Paris is even worse. Just 15 out of 303 stations are listed by operator RATP as wheelchair-accessible. Once the use of ramps is excluded, that number falls to just nine, all of them on the automated Line 14, built in the 1990s.

The London tube (and DLR) network

50 out of 270 London tube stations are fully accessible

Only 71 of 270 tube stations have fully step-free accessibility to the platforms, and there are just 50 where someone in a wheelchair can access trains unassisted, but TfL says it is on track to have more than a third accessible by 2018.

“We have made great strides over recent years but much more needs to be done,” says TfL.

Although not technically part of the tube, the DLR was the first fully accessible railway in Britain when it opened in 1987. All platforms are accessible by lift or ramp, and it is possible to roll on and off trains. The new Elizabeth Line will be 100% accessible when it starts next year, fully step-free and with street-to-train wheelchair access at all stations.

Alan Benson, chair of Transport for All and an electric wheelchair user himself, says many disabled and older Londoners are “locked out” from using the tube. “With avoidable lift closures due to staff shortages and repairs that often take up to six months, even those stations that are accessible become unusable,” he adds. “It stops us from getting to work or university, to see friends and family, or just to live our lives like everyone else.”

The maps above were based on TfL’s avoiding stairs guide, selecting stations marked as “lift access” or “level access/ramped”. Using the step-free guide we further removed stations which require the use of manual boarding ramps and staff assistance.

The Paris metro

Nine out of 303 Paris metro stations are fully accessible

The Paris metro, famed for its Art Nouveau architecture and Hector Guimard entrances, opened in 1900 and many stations were built before 1930. Like London, accessibility was not considered important at the time.

Of 303 stations on the metro (not including the RER suburban rail system), just 15 have lifts to the platforms and are listed as wheelchair accessible. Six of those require ramps and staff assistance, taking the fully accessible total down to nine – all on Line 14, which was built in 1990s and has roll-on, roll-off trains.

The Barcelona metro

129 of 156 metro stations are fully accessible

The Barcelona metro started operation in 1924 – and has parts which date back to 1863 – but is widely considered one of the most accessible in Europe.

Operator TMB says 129 of 156 metro stations are fully accessible. As in London, hosting the Olympic Games was a major impetus to improving disabled access. All metro stations built since 1992 are fully accessible, and many older stations are being refurbished. There are tactile strips for the blind, relief metro maps and voice-guided ticket machines.

The New York subway

117 out of 472 New York subway stations are fully accessible

The New York subway is another old metro system, dating to 1904, and one of the largest in the world.

Most of the subway was built long before 1990, when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) came into effect, so those stations were not originally designed to be wheelchair accessible.

Operator the MTA says it has been making “key stations” accessible when they are renovated, and all new stations must have lifts. The MTA plans to increase the number of accessible stations from 117 to 144 by 2020.

Wheelchair user John Morris, who runs advice site Wheelchair Travel, says the complexity of disabled access on the New York subway makes the system effectively unusable for visitors.

“Even in the centre, in Manhattan, I advise people to avoid the subways at all costs,” he says. “A station may be accessible but the line you want might only be accessible from a platform which can only be reached by steps. The level of understanding one must have to navigate it is so high – and even someone who knows the system perfectly can be caught out by a broken elevator. It’s challenging.”

The Tokyo metro

186 out of 211 Tokyo metro stations are fully accessible

If you can decipher the metro map – and understand its list of wheelchair accessible stations – then Tokyo appears to perform relatively well.

Reports are generally favourable, with Srin Madipalli of Disability Horizons writing that “virtually all of the Tokyo metro system has some kind of wheelchair accessibility”. Finding the lift in a vast station with multiple entrances can prove a challenge for visitors, though.

The Los Angeles metro

93 out of 93 LA metro stations are fully accessible

The Los Angeles County Mass Transit Authroity (Metro) says all six of its lines are fully accessible to people in wheelchairs. The first Metro stations opened in 1990, when the ADA came into effect, and many new stations have been completed in the past few years.

“Since the ADA in 1990, US law requires accessibility in public transport,” says John Morris. “All new systems and lines must be accessible or local government must give very good reason why that can’t be done and provide an alternative.”

Every station has a walkway, ramp or elevator from the street to the platform. Users can keep track of elevator outages on Twitter.

“The challenge with LA of course is how spread out it is,” adds Morris.

The Washington DC metro

91 out of 91 Washington DC metro stations are fully accessible

Despite being the third busiest subway system in the US after New York and Chicago, and with large sections built in the 1970s and 80s, DC’s metro is widely lauded as one of the most accessible in the world.

All 91 stations – including the brutalist masterpieces of Harry Weese – and all trains are accessible, according to operator WMATA (the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority).

“All stations have elevators and directional signs indicating elevator locations,” says the WMATA. “Rail cars feature gap reducers between the car and the platform, barriers between cars, priority seating for people with disabilities and senior citizens, and emergency intercoms accessible to wheelchair users that also include instructions in Braille and raised alphabet.”

Morris says the system is easy to use and both powered and manual wheelchair users can roll on and off trains smoothly. “Like everywhere there are elevator outages from time to time,” he adds, “but they are good at notifying of planned closures and providing shuttle buses if needed. The city buses all have lower floors with ramps too.”

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