If there’s one thing to sink the heart it’s the announcement of a station upgrade programme on the Underground. I accept, grudgingly, the installation of step-free access, which makes the Tube an option for anyone on a walking frame or wheelchair or hauling pushchairs and suitcases. To date 94 of its 272 Tube stations are step free, but although it’s trying to bolster the number, it’s not going to have half of those stations accessible by 2030.
Every other upgrade means just one thing: station or platform closures. There is nothing, but nothing, more disgruntling than to find that your one way of getting to work is off-limits for months on end. No one, for instance, disputes the desirability of working escalators for deep platforms – fancy climbing up from the Elizabeth line? – but is it necessary to close entire stations for this purpose?
