Tube or taxi??

[pooliemag]

Any advice please?
4 of us travelling from Birmingham to Great Yarmouth via London, the advance tickets include a journey on the tube from Euston Sq to Liverpool St ( after an 8minute walk from Euston ). One of the party will be using a wheelchair and I`m wondering how easy this short journey will be on the tube?
I`ve looked at taxi fares from Euston to Liverpool St and they are around £15-20 depending on traffic using a black cab and am now weighing up whether to pay the £4-5 each to save the hassle of the tube...your thoughts please.
Many thanks

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Taxi - definitely, given the wheelchair.

 

[yorkie]

Any advice please?
4 of us travelling from Birmingham to Great Yarmouth via London, the advance tickets include a journey on the tube from Euston Sq to Liverpool St ( after an 8minute walk from Euston ). One of the party will be using a wheelchair and I'm wondering how easy this short journey will be on the tube?
I've looked at taxi fares from Euston to Liverpool St and they are around £15-20 depending on traffic using a black cab and am now weighing up whether to pay the £4-5 each to save the hassle of the tube...your thoughts please.
Many thanks

Avoiding the deep level tube and taking the sub-surface Metropolitan Railway can be step-free, but it would be very time consuming. At Euston Square, there are lifts, but you can only access these on the southbound side of the Euston Road, which you'd need to cross. You can then only go westbound step-free. The first point you could turn back would, I believe, be Paddington. You then have step-free access on the eastbound line at Liverpool Street. This could take something like 3 times the normal journey time. I don't know your itinerary, but it's unlikely to allow sufficient time for this.

Therefore, I'd advise a taxi if at all possible. I don't know what time of day you are travelling, so unable to advise on traffic.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The 205 bus would be an easy and cheaper-than-a-taxi wheelchair accessible option. Slower though.

 

[pooliemag]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies We arrive at Euston 1415 and have a 45 minute connection time, I have no idea if that`s a busy time?? The answer seems to be get the taxi ...maybe a daft question but would all four of us get in one cab with perhaps a couple of suitcase and holdalls?? Have no problem paying the extra out for the taxi after getting (outstanding value ..I think) advance fares of only £13 each!!

 

[W-on-Sea]

I'd get the taxi then for sure. The 205 MIGHT make it in that time, but it would be risky. Black cabs usually have five seats (three facing forwards, two fold-down facing backwards), although some have six. Not sure how a wheelchair place relates to that, though - but I reckon (not with 100% certainty) that it would work,

 

[Be3G]

I don't know how common this is, but I have heard/read of occurrences where taxi drivers are reluctant to pick up wheelchair passengers because of the extra time it takes them. No doubt this is a practice of which TfL would take a very dim view, but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Having said that, I suppose that coming from a big London terminus would mean that if one taxi isn't interested, another more helpful one would be available almost immediately after.

 

[nicobobinus]

With a 45 minute connection time I'd forget the 205 option. With clear roads (pot luck in itself) it is about 25 minutes once you're on a bus but the route is prone to running with 20+ minute gaps because of major long term roadworks elsewhere on the route. A good cabbie will know how to dodge the ring road traffic if it turns out to be bad and you'll have your pick of them from the rank downstairs at Euston Station so finding one to take your party shouldn't be a problem.

 

[bb21]

King's Cross St P to Liverpool Street is accessible eastbound so that would also be an option.

Do you have a reservation coupon for the leg from Liverpool Street? If so, GA may be willing to make allowances to allow you travel on a later service if needed be due to an extended interchange time. 45 minutes is doable by walking to King's Cross St P and taking LU from there, but just in case.

 

[Josie]

In a TX2 black cab, we can normally fit my other half (wheelchair user), me, one other passenger and a couple of small bags. If your wheelchair user can transfer out and fold down their wheelchair you *might* get a little bit more luggage space but I'd be surprised if you all managed to fit in one cab.

It might be a better idea to book an accessible minicab to meet you at Euston, and specifically request a larger vehicle.

 

[Rover]

We've come a very long way over the years in providing better accessibility for disabled people and wheelchair users but this shows we still have a very long way to go.
I wish you well pooliemag.

 

[ssray]

When you get to Euston head towards the front right of the station, the lift is on the right(towards sainsburys local) go to level 1, when exiting turn left and there is a disabled pick up point for cabs
Ray

 

[James Wake]

You could probably all get in the cab, as there is luggage space in the front of a TX or Vito, I think the cabbies tend to put a wheelchair in reverse in front of the tip up seat on the passenger side. It would cost extra to use the 205 bus and I agree in that the 205 has been suffering punctuality problems recently, it may be worth going to the cab rank and seeing how many of you can get in a taxi (if not all of you can get in, one of you could always get the tube from Euston Square)

 

[Bletchleyite]

With a 45 minute connection I wouldn't use the 205; I'd want at least an hour.

 

[maniacmartin]

You could always split up. Some people take the taxi, and the rest take the tube, and meet up again at Liverpool St

 

[Trainfan344]

You could always split up. Some people take the taxi, and the rest take the tube, and meet up again at Liverpool St

But then what happens if one group makes it to Liverpool Street in time and the other doesn't?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Same as if none did.

 

[pooliemag]

Well the trip is over, did the right thing in using a taxi I think although it was very tight on time.Thank you everyone again for all the advice and suggestions.Taxis ended up costing just over £15 each way but managed to get all four of us inc wheelchair, 2 large suitcases and 2 holdalls in one black cab.