Hello! I am planning to surprise my husband, who is British, with a trip "home" next summer. I am excited about this, but am having severe anxiety about one thing...escalators! I was severely injured on an escalator years ago and have developed a terrible fear of escalators. Since there is little chance of me recovering from this before our trip, I need advice. Which tube stations have lifts, and which ones have a manageable number of stairs? Thank you for your help!
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Tube Stations With Lifts
- Thread starter Becky9196
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What journeys are you planning to make? We will be happy to make recommendations.
Alternatively the TfL journey planner has various accessibility options which you can select, including "I can use stairs but not escalators"
Alternatively the TfL journey planner has various accessibility options which you can select, including "I can use stairs but not escalators"
The first step (sorry!) is here http://www.tfl.gov.uk/maps/track/tube where there are various tube maps which should help.
Not sure without looking whether that will help you with "manageable numbers" of stairs, but as a general rule the sub-surface lines (District/Circle/Metropolitan/Hammersmith and City) have only one flight of stairs (and often no escalators), and the same applies to the overground suburban extensions of the tube North of the Thames.
I predict there are people on this forum who could give exact answers for any specific station you are interested in
(Yorkie was quicker!)
Not sure without looking whether that will help you with "manageable numbers" of stairs, but as a general rule the sub-surface lines (District/Circle/Metropolitan/Hammersmith and City) have only one flight of stairs (and often no escalators), and the same applies to the overground suburban extensions of the tube North of the Thames.
I predict there are people on this forum who could give exact answers for any specific station you are interested in
(Yorkie was quicker!)
Metrailway
Member
If you are travelling within Central/Inner London, I would highly recommend using local buses. London has by far the best bus network in Europe.
Mikey C
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http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=96606
This thread concerns deep Tube stations with lifts only. Notable ones in 'touristy' London include Covent Garden, Goodge Street, Russell Square, Lancaster Gate and Queensway
This thread concerns deep Tube stations with lifts only. Notable ones in 'touristy' London include Covent Garden, Goodge Street, Russell Square, Lancaster Gate and Queensway
Additionally you can request for an escalator to be switched off for you to use it as a fixed stairway.
You may need to walk up a spiral staircase as an alternative.
TFL Customer service is able to contact the stations beforehand to provide advice for you.
You may need to walk up a spiral staircase as an alternative.
TFL Customer service is able to contact the stations beforehand to provide advice for you.
CatfordCat
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This page on TfL's website may help a bit - https://www.tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/wheelchair-access-and-avoiding-stairs - although it's more aimed towards people who are unable to use stairs, and it is slightly misleading for your question.
Balham (for example, which I use daily) has escalators from ticket office level to platform (although there is a fixed staircase between the two escalators) but is not shown as having escalators on the maps you can get on that page, because there is only staircases to gain access from street level to ticket office level.
Most underground stations with escalators will have staircase access as well - these can be next to or in between escalators (don't know if that will be a problem for you) or they can very long spiral staircases at the 'deep tube' stations.
For clarity, the 'deep tube' lines are the bakerloo, piccadilly, northern, jubilee, central - although all of these have some stations above ground at the outer end.
As others have said, if you've got a particular journey in mind, then let us have the details, and I'm sure you'll get a few suggestions how to do it without escalators and / or by bus.
By the way, London 'Travelcards' are valid on London bus services (this may be stating the obvious, but i've encountered a few people who assume they are valid only on the underground and not buses.) London's bus network is extremely comprehensive, although if you try to contemplate the entire network of several hundred routes, it can be a bit daunting initially.
Balham (for example, which I use daily) has escalators from ticket office level to platform (although there is a fixed staircase between the two escalators) but is not shown as having escalators on the maps you can get on that page, because there is only staircases to gain access from street level to ticket office level.
Most underground stations with escalators will have staircase access as well - these can be next to or in between escalators (don't know if that will be a problem for you) or they can very long spiral staircases at the 'deep tube' stations.
For clarity, the 'deep tube' lines are the bakerloo, piccadilly, northern, jubilee, central - although all of these have some stations above ground at the outer end.
As others have said, if you've got a particular journey in mind, then let us have the details, and I'm sure you'll get a few suggestions how to do it without escalators and / or by bus.
By the way, London 'Travelcards' are valid on London bus services (this may be stating the obvious, but i've encountered a few people who assume they are valid only on the underground and not buses.) London's bus network is extremely comprehensive, although if you try to contemplate the entire network of several hundred routes, it can be a bit daunting initially.
ATW Alex 101
Established Member
As well as the Victoria and Waterloo and City lines which have no stations above ground.
The new stations on the Jubilee lines are usually wheelchair accessible = lots of lifts
The standard tube map shows wheelchair accessible stations if you want a very very quick guide. For other stations with steps you'll need to look more carefully station by station. The Northern line is a deep line, so best avoided unless you know a specific station is ok. As others have said, the bus is a great option. I personally like the ease of using boats in London as well. The Thames is a great way to see the city.
The standard tube map shows wheelchair accessible stations if you want a very very quick guide. For other stations with steps you'll need to look more carefully station by station. The Northern line is a deep line, so best avoided unless you know a specific station is ok. As others have said, the bus is a great option. I personally like the ease of using boats in London as well. The Thames is a great way to see the city.
I suffer from this also, and have spent a fair amount of time travelling around London on the underground.
Possibly counterintuitively, I advise using the "Avoiding Stairs" tube map, available here in reverse, cross referenced with the detail for each station on the "Step-free" map from the same page. I've had no trouble since I started following this method, but I suggest studying them deeply before you travel. I suggest getting them in paper format when you arrive: staff at major tube stations should be able to find you some if they aren't on display already.
If you need to change trains, but doing so would require use of an escalator, I have never had a problem with changing at a different station, even if this required changing in Zone 2 on a Zone 1 ticket.
The journey planner is useless for this purpose, I have found, and gives me very duff advice. Avoid!
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