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Sudbury Hill Underground station on the Piccadilly line has become step-free, helping customers with reduced mobility to access the station and the wider transport network.   

Grade-II listed Sudbury Hill station now has two new lifts and improved signage giving customers step-free access from the street to the station platforms. Alongside these upgrades, boarding ramps will continue to be available to assist customers to board or alight the train, along with tactile paving along the full length of both platforms. TfL staff will be on hand to assist any customers with their journeys, as part of the Turn-up-and-go service. 

The ticket hall has also been modernised with the removal of the redundant ticket office, which has improved the ticket hall environment, and care has been taken throughout the work to reflect the look and feel of the original Charles Holden-designed 1930s station. For example, bricks consistent with the rest of the building were used to construct the new lift shafts and a new window was specified to match the style of the existing ones.   

The two new lifts will greatly improve access within the station for customers with reduced mobility including people travelling with heavy luggage or buggies and young children. The completion of work at Sudbury Hill brings the total number of step-free stations on the Tube to 90 following Osterley Tube station, also on the Piccadilly line, becoming step-free in October and the opening of two new step-free stations on the Northern Line Extension at Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station in September. Step-free access has also been introduced this year at Underground stations at Wimbledon Park (in August), Ickenham (in June), Debden (in April) and Amersham (in February). Work continues to make Harrow-on-the-Hill Tube station step-free.

In addition, Ealing Broadway was made step-free in May 2021 in preparation for the Elizabeth line, and Whitechapel became step-free when the original station entrance on Whitechapel Road re-opened in August 2021.   

In 2022, TfL will deliver a range of step-free projects that are currently under construction. This includes full step-free access at Knightsbridge, as part of a majority third-party funded development scheme, and to the Northern line at Moorgate, which became step-free to the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines earlier this year via the recently opened station entrance. TfL is also progressing step-free access work that will make busy Zone 1 stations partially step-free in 2022. These are at Bank (Northern line and DLR Interchange only) and Paddington (Bakerloo line only). 

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London said: "The improvements at Sudbury Hill station will make a huge difference for all those using it, from the modernised ticket hall and improved signage to step-free access for those who need it. It marks 90 Tube stations now being step-free, which is an inspiring milestone - and we continue to work to make the capital's public transport network accessible to all."

Esther Sharples, London Underground's Director of Asset Performance and Capital Delivery, said: "Sudbury Hill Tube station becoming step-free is another milestone in our pledge to make the Underground network more accessible and a further boost to Piccadilly line customers after Osterley and Ickenham also became step-free earlier this year. People with reduced mobility, including those with children in buggies or carrying heavy luggage, can now access the Tube with greater ease at Sudbury Hill, improving their journeys."

Cllr Graham Henson, Leader of Harrow Council, said: "Making the underground more accessible at Sudbury Hill will be life-changing for many of our residents and we thank the Mayor of London for the investment to make this happen."  

Last month, TfL launched a consultation to help shape future step-free access priorities and improvements on the London Underground network, the first of its kind in 15 years. The consultation, which runs until 10 February 2022, has been designed to help TfL identify which aspects of making London Underground stations more accessible it should prioritise. The consultation can be found here: https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/tube-step-free-access. Future projects remain subject to funding with a long-term, sustainable programme of investment for the capital, yet to be secured. Such investment is essential to future accessibility improvements and to ensuring an efficient and reliable public transport service for all Londoners.

All London Underground and London Overground stations and most TfL Rail stations offer a Turn-up-and-go service for customers seeking assistance with their journeys. Customers using this service do not need to pre-book assistance and can request help on arrival at the station. All TfL staff are trained to support and advise customers with reduced mobility so they can complete their journeys. Ninety-five per cent of bus stops are accessible to wheelchair users and bus drivers will lower the bus to reduce the step up and deploy the wheelchair ramp when required. 

More information can be found on the TfL website: tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/help-from-staff  

Customers are reminded that, unless they are exempt, face coverings must be worn for the full duration of journeys on the TfL network including inside Tube and bus stations. The change to Government regulations means that TfL's 500 uniformed enforcement officers and police partners are able once again to issue penalty notice fines of up to £200 to those who refuse to comply

Notes to editors

Over half (51 per cent) of the TfL rail network - spanning Tube, DLR, London Overground, London Trams and TfL Rail services - is now step-free. Since 2016, 22 Tube stations have been made step-free as part of the London Underground accessibility programme, the Crossrail project and the Northern Line Extension