Forum Topic

Depressing report on Putney News regarding East Putney Station

Groundhog Day at East Putney: We publish the feasibility study TfL already hasThis week, Transport for London announced it will conduct a feasibility study to make East Putney station step-free, and Putney MP Fleur Anderson celebrated the news, telling constituents “work will finally begin.”If this feels familiar, it should. It’s happened before.In November 2019, a comprehensive feasibility study for East Putney was completed by professional engineering firms. The 44-page report concluded the station could be made step-free, with construction beginning in mid-2021.That was six years ago. No construction began. No funding was allocated. The study appears to have been ignored.Now, in 2025, TfL announces it will… conduct a feasibility study.......https://putney.news/2025/10/05/groundhog-day-at-east-putney-we-publish-the-feasibility-study-tfl-already-has/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=groundhog-day-at-east-putney-we-publish-the-feasibility-study-tfl-already-has&utm_source=Putney.news&utm_campaign=dadb808434-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ffe896a2d6-dadb808434-296659549

Ivonne Holliday ● 12d17 Comments

Thank you Jackie Lever - that's very interesting.  It does in fact echo my assertion some years ago that I would not be happy living in a block of flats with just one lift.  I'd always want an alternative one to be easily available and that affects any  initial designs. They are expensive and take a lot of regulated maintenance to keep working safely.  Parts just like the lifts have to come from all over the world and operatives to fix them can be hard to find although TfL ought to have plenty of lifts to enable them maintain a team or have a trusted sub-contractor.  Brexit has made getting spare lift parts harder to get.  So it seems just getting a lift is NOT a complete answer to the problem.A question was also raised about putting a handrail down the middle of some stairs on one of tube stations to make them safer.  I've seen a rail that you can dip under (if you are fit and able) to pass a slow moving person or a buggy being carried which might stop those impatient passengers who insist on running from knocking slower passengers flying.  This may depend on width/any Building Regulations etc.I remember  once suggesting on a TfL website that the risers on the stairs be marked 'up' or 'down' as I had seen built into the stairs at a new Reading Station  extension which I thought a brilliantly simple idea to make stairs easier and safer to use - but my comment disappeared to my chagrin.

Philippa Bond ● 4d

Yes, Southfields does have a lift.  But are you aware that it's use is dependent on there being a lift-trained member of staff there?  When that member of staff has a coffee break/needs the loo, they disable use of the lift until their return. This is the same at Wimbledon Park and I believe at all lift-enabled stations, something to do with Health and Safety. The upshot is that people using smaller stations with less (if any) staff never know when the lift will be available or not.  This leads disabled passengers arriving at Southfields unable to access street level, and also people who cannot get down to the platforms. There is no notice on the lift as to when it will be operational again, and it happens randomly, mostly during off-peak times. So the maps are not a true reflection of the reality.  It's a ridiculous situation!

Jackie Lever ● 4d

Yes, Southfields does have a lift.  But are you aware that it's use is dependent on there being a lift-trained member of staff there?  When that member of staff has a coffee break/needs the loo, they disable use of the lift until their return. This is the same at Wimbledon Park and I believe at all lift-enabled stations, something to do with Health and Safety.  The upshot is that people using smaller stations with less (if any) staff never know when the lift will be available or not.  This leads disabled passengers arriving at Southfields unable to access street level, and also people who cannot get down to the platforms. There is no notice on the lift as to when it will be operational again, and it happens randomly, mostly during off-peak times.  So the maps are not a true reflection of the reality.  It's a ridiculous situation!

Jackie Lever ● 5d

Well the meeting on the traffic chaos in Putney pretty much echoes the fragmentation problem that exists.

Philippa Bond ● 6d

There's also a lot of info on the TfL website if anyone bothers to re-look at it as it has been updated a lot since I last looked at it and over the years as things change.  You can see on there which stations are step-free etc and there are maps available. I put a link to it on another thread.  Please don't just think and expect that nothing changes - because it does! Its just a lot of stations needing attention and a lot of liaising that's needed.  You could start with your Councillors. (Just look at the trouble that Network Rail has had with all the bridges it was trying to sort out over the summer holidays!)What bothers me is the lack of joined-up working between all the different agencies in getting everything step-free and easy to access from one method of transport to another - crossings and pavements and drop off points and lifts or escalators as well as access to the trains/tubes.Just the other day I travelled to the Recycling Expo at the Excel on the Lizzie line and then to Reading on it.  It is interesting that following the fuss (rightly so) following nasty casualties getting on and off due to the huge difference in levels between the train and the platform at some stations there is now an announcement for those going out of London further than Bond Street to get off there to arrange for assistance when getting off further down the line as all stations apparently now have ramps available for those who have difficulty with the huge height difference/gap. This is hopefully before they make better arrangements - but it IS a start!  It doesn't mean stop lobbying though!When I was getting the tube every day I also used to get an email update telling me when and if there were any problems on the lines - which was far better than getting to the station and then finding out there were no trains.

Philippa Bond ● 7d

Sorry Philippa, it is 2025, these issues go back decades and simply have not been given the priority they deserve.We are now in the situation where budgets are likely to be far less. Yet, like the previous Mayor there is a huge amount of money wasted on pet projects while basic services deteriorate.

Ed Robinson ● 9d

Thank you so much, Michael.  That is very helpful information!

Ivonne Holliday ● 9d

My wife came across this app called Snowball featured in a Time Out article, so I've nicked the details from her FB post, which includes a map showing which stations are fully accessible and which ones are accessible with staff assistance - of course, East Putney isn't on the map, so fortunately not something we need! I know it's slightly off topic but I thought some forum members - or their friends or relatives - might find it helpful.https://www.timeout.com/london/news/a-brand-new-london-tube-map-makes-travel-easier-for-disabled-travellers-100525

Michael Ixer ● 10d

https://www.putneysw15.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conputneyeaststepfree001.htm(The 3 October article on the front page of this website.)As you can see from the article Leonie Cooper who is your Assembly Member representing you has been working with your MP Fleur Anderson asking questions at the GLA.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-use-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/domestic-transport-usage-by-modeI understood that there was a backlog of maintenance work that has needed to be done.  One very obvious part of the delays is that the new air-conditioned Piccadilly line trains have been severely delayed in being put into action as work on the tracks in preparation for them has been ongoing for months which can be rather problematical if you are going to Heathrow to catch a plane.https://tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/major-works-and-events/piccadilly-line-upgradeA friend mentioned that there had been other monies put into the upgrading of Southfields tube station and Wikipedia provided this:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southfields_tube_stationIvonne's piece from the Putney News is very detailed so do have a look at it.I wonder how a comprehensive overview and all necessary bodies can be encouraged to all work together so that the approaches to an updated accessible tube station ie buses, bus stops, roads, cycle parking, crossings and kerbs etc and anything else necessary are all integrated into the design.  Although I think with the Barnes problem Ed mentioned the problem may be something to do with two boroughs being involved...  but even so working seamlessly together should be expected...  and achieved!! 

Philippa Bond ● 10d

Despite all the legislation we have there are masses of places which are completely inaccessible or hard or harder to negotiate for those who are no longer as fit and able as they once were - as well as those who have always struggled with lack of accessibility.As Adrian above has written there is a latest list of which stations will be updated.  As Ed has pointed out above also there is a lack of joined-up thinking and work around infrastructure as there are many separate agencies involved and responsible for it.This is compounded by people having to find and choose alternatives to suit their particular situation at the time ie the actual footfall may drop or increase depending on the accessibility as opposed to whether its the closest station.Do look at the Accessibility Information on the TfL webpages as these have changed.  I've also noticed better information in the bus shelters.https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/plan-an-accessible-journey

Philippa Bond ● 10d

Elisabeth, I don’t use Paddington very often, but that sounds the sort of thing I dread. I don’t think people realise how little it takes to knock someone off their feet on a staircase.  I always hold onto the handrail these days.  If there’s no lift, I try to wait until everyone’s out the way before I use the stairs.   I not unfit that I can’t use stairs as it’s good exercise to use them, but just trying to protect myself.

Martine Guy ● 10d

I agree Martine, the stairs at East Putney are steep. At Southfields the stairs don't seem so steep, and of course there's a lift.Don't know if you've ever joined the District Line at Paddington. The stairs there were almost vertical though they have switched to another set of stairs. But it's still all up and down. No Step Free Access there!

Elizabeth Balsom ● 11d

Yes, this is depressing.  I only use the lifts and avoid the staircase when I use our train station, and would like lifts installed at E. Putney tube too. If this isn’t going to happen anytime soon, then I would like a central handrail installed on the staircases at East Putney and the British Rail station. I have posted several times about being knocked over by another person on the staircase at the train station.  This wouldn’t have happened if there had been a central handrail. I feel very wary on the stairs at E.Putney.

Martine Guy ● 11d

There are only 3 stations likely to become Step Free by the end of 2027, they are Colindale, Northolt and Leyton. Then it's Burnt Oak, Alperton, Arnos Grove, Eastcote, Finchley Road, West Hampstead, White City, Colliers Wood, Tooting Broadway,Croxley, East Finchley, Neasden, Northwood and Turnham Green.East Putney and Putney Bridge are in the neext 17 after that so don't expect anything to change until well into the 2030's.

Adrian Pearce ● 11d

This is a tortured subject indeed! I have been in correspondence with TFL about the poor state of Putney Tube Station, lack of lift and the destination boards which have been faulty for ten years, oh and repeated signal failures on the Wimbledon line to the point where you cannot rely on the service. Responses are polite, measured and aware of the difficulties however there is no sign as yet that money is ready to be spent on rectifying anything.

Miles Thompson ● 11d

This is a tortured subject indeed! I have been in correspondence with TFL about the poor state of Putney Tube Station, lack of lift and the destination boards which have been faulty for ten years, oh and repeated signal failures on the Wimbledon line to the point where you cannot rely on the service. Responses are polite, measured and aware of the difficulties however there is no sign as yet that money is ready to be spent on rectifying anything.

Miles Thompson ● 11d

Another excellent article by Putney News.I was shocked that TFL had no plans for Barnes Railway station, which got lifts between platform by Network Rail this year. It was part of Network Rail's published improvements. But the buses stop at the top of the bridge with no step free access to ground level where the station is. TFL had no plans to address this when I contacted them.Now this news of wasted money and what appears to be political motivated deception. Truly shocking.

Ed Robinson ● 11d