page_title: London Underground
section_title: Accessibility
hierarchical_section_title: London Underground / Travelling / Accessibility
caption_attribution_description: English: Disabled person on the Tube train (Hammersmith and City, 2016)
context_page_description: The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.
  The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. Opened in January 1863, it is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2017/18 carried 1.357 billion passengers, making it the world's 12th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle up to 5 million passengers a day.
  The system's first tunnels were built just below the ground, using the cut-and-cover method; later, smaller, roughly circular tunnels—which gave rise to its nickname, the Tube—were dug through at a deeper level. The system has 270 stations and 250 miles of track. Despite its name, only 45% of the system is underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface.
context_section_description: Accessibility for people with limited mobility was not considered when most of the system was built, and before 1993 fire regulations prohibited wheelchairs on the Underground. The stations on the Jubilee Line Extension, opened in 1999, were the first stations on the system designed with accessibility in mind, but retrofitting accessibility features to the older stations is a major investment that is planned to take over twenty years. A 2010 London Assembly report concluded that over 10% of people in London had reduced mobility and, with an aging population, numbers will increase in the future.
  The standard issue tube map indicates stations that are step-free from street to platforms. There can also be a step from platform to train as large as 12 inches (300 mm) and a gap between the train and curved platforms, and these distances are marked on the map. Access from platform to train at some stations can be assisted using a boarding ramp operated by staff, and a section has been raised on some platforms to reduce the step.
  As of February 2020, there are 79 stations with step-free access from platform to train, and there are plans to provide step-free access at another 19 stations by 2024. By 2016 a third of stations had platform humps that reduce the step from platform to train. New trains, such as those being introduced on the sub-surface network, have access and room for wheelchairs, improved audio and visual information systems and accessible door controls.
caption: A wheelchair user on the Tube train
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