Boris Johnson backs plan to bring step-free access to Harrow-on-the-Hill station
Harrow Council have been lobbying the Mayor of London's office on the issue for months.
Disabled groups and the elderly are celebrating after the project to bring step-free access to Harrow-on-the-Hill station has been backed by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Transport for London (TFL).
A feasibility study, which will be jointly funded by Harrow Council, Mr Johnson's office and TFL, will look at how the plan would be implemented, with the council already setting aside £3.1million for the plan.
Mr Johnson said: "London now has one of the most accessible public transport networks in the world and we're continuing to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to ensure that we take it to the next level.
"It is therefore only right that we explore the possibility of Harrow-on-the-Hill joining the many other step-free tube and rail stations across the capital."
Leader of Harrow Council Susan Hall (Conservative), who met with London's Deputy Mayor for planning Sir Edward Lister in November to take him on a tour around Harrow-on-the-Hill station in a bid to convince him to take action, said: "I am confident this study will bring back a positive verdict and we can press on with making this a reality."
It could be the first wave of investment for Harrow, which was identified as a potential growth area in the mayor's London Plan – published for consultation in January – which proposes designating Harrow and Wealdstone as Opportunity Areas.
Ms Hall added: "We have lobbied hard for step-free access at the station for some while. The announcement of this joint business plan is the clearest evidence yet of a compelling case for it.
"We need to make our town centre as welcoming and accessible as possible, and the authority is prepared to put more than £3million to make this happen."
Gareth Powell, London Underground's director of strategy and service development said: "We look forward to working with the London Borough of Harrow on the feasibility study and welcome the funding of £3.1m that they have identified to help make the station step-free.
"Making Harrow-on- the-Hill station step-free would require additional finance and we'll continue to look for extra funding sources for this and other similar schemes.
"We are making more and more London Underground and London Overground stations step free, with 25 confirmed schemes over the next decade and we are trying to have even more accessible stations wherever possible with third party funding. This approach is already bearing fruit at Greenford and Tower Hill Underground Stations.
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