Getting to the Tower of London with a wheelchair using London Underground -

xxdeebeexx

Hi my 88 yr old, disabled, mum would like to see the Blood swept Lands and Seas of red at The Tower of London. I have spent hours trying to find a wheelchair friendly underground station within walking distance of the Tower.
We are traveling from west London....


Can anyone help please?


I have phoned TFL and the phone operator had to phone each individual station for their info!!! She didn't have anything to hand.


tia


dx

peachyprice

xxdeebeexx wrote: »

Hi my 88 yr old, disabled, mum would like to see the Blood swept Lands and Seas of red at The Tower of London. I have spent hours trying to find a wheelchair friendly underground station within walking distance of the Tower.
We are traveling from west London....


Can anyone help please?


I have phoned TFL and the phone operator had to phone each individual station for their info!!! She didn't have anything to hand.


tia


dx

I can't believe the operator didn't have access to the tfl step free guide.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/step-free-tube-guide-map.pdf

Or the tube map.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/standard-tube-map.pdf

Nearest station would be Tower Gateway on DLR. You'd have to be able to get onto the Central Line to Stratford to pick that up, but the problem seems to be that there are very few step free access stations in west London.

If you can get to Hammersmith or Earls Court you can get the district line to Blackfriars, it's about a mile to walk, that seems to be the easiest without a change.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Use the guide shown in the post below but if you tell us where in West London we may be able to assist better too.

xxdeebeexx

peachyprice wrote: »

I can't believe the operator didn't have access to the tfl step free guide.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/step-free-tube-guide-map.pdf

Or the tube map.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/standard-tube-map.pdf

Nearest station would be Tower Gateway on DLR. You'd have to be able to get onto the Central Line to Stratford to pick that up, but the problem seems to be that there are very few step free access stations in west London.

If you can get to Hammersmith or Earls Court you can get the district line to Blackfriars, it's about a mile to walk, that seems to be the easiest without a change.

Thank you I will look into that.
We can easily get on the district line from the Piccadilly line that serves our local station.


I am completely amazed at how poor the access is for disabled tube travellers and how poor the accessibility information is at big attractions.
Thankfully 'we' have only recently become disabled - due to poor health - it's a real eye opener - to be honest the lack of information and access to LT is shameful.
(rant over - for now)

thanks for taking the time to help


dx

SueMaggie

Have you considered using London Transport's Dial a Ride service? I haven't looked through all the terms and conditions, but may be worth investigating.

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/dial-a-ride/

dzug1

A bus for the last bit might be the answer - just about all London buses are wheelchair friendly

macman

Poor disabled access: most London tube stations and rail stations are 100+ years old, none were built with disabled access in mind, and the cost of retrofitting lifts at some is prohibitive or technically unfeasable.
Lifts are no longer built to provide access to sub-surface stations for able bodied passengers, because they don't offer sufficient capacity, compared to escalators.
About a quarter of tube stations do have step free access, and all DLR stations do, since they're relatively new.

xxdeebeexx

macman wrote: »

Poor disabled access: most London tube stations and rail stations are 100+ years old, none were built with disabled access in mind, and the cost of retrofitting lifts at some is prohibitive or technically unfeasable.
Lifts are no longer built to provide access to sub-surface stations for able bodied passengers, because they don't offer sufficient capacity, compared to escalators.
About a quarter of tube stations do have step free access, and all DLR stations do, since they're relatively new.

Yep, I get it!
I was totally frustrated as there was no clear advice about how we could get to such a major tourist attraction with a wheelchair.
The member of staff I spoke to was awful (mind you it was 11.30pm when I phoned).
There is no information on The Towers website other than pointing out the closest stations.
A £5.40 trip on the underground was fast becoming an £106 return taxi fare.


I admit that we are learners, but it's pretty tough being a wheelchair user in London.


dx

peachyprice

xxdeebeexx wrote: »

Yep, I get it!
I was totally frustrated as there was no clear advice about how we could get to such a major tourist attraction with a wheelchair.

Yes there was, it was all there on the tfl website.

xxdeebeexx

peachyprice wrote: »

Yes there was, it was all there on the tfl website.

Yes, you're absolutely right.

However, in my defence, you need to know where to look before you can find the information.

I started with the Tower of London web site and ended up at a dead end.

In order to get the right information from Google you first need to know the right terminology ....
We are beginners ..... thankfully there are kind people, like yourself, that are happy to give advice and help.


many thanks


dx

dzug1

peachyprice wrote: »

Yes there was, it was all there on the tfl website.

It's a pretty awful site to navigate though with an appalling search function