Step-free access to Liverpool Street station could be improved, as Network Rail is applying for permission to install a new lift at the Bishopsgate entrance, giving step-free access between the entrance and the main concourse.
The location for the proposed lift (c) ianVisits
The main passenger waiting area is below street level, and the station has four main entrances, with two at the lower concourse level and two from the street down to the concourse. Currently, the station has a lift over by what’s known as the Old Broad Street entrance, more commonly known as where the McDonalds is, but the other entrance, on Bishopsgate, has escalators and stairs, but no lift.
Having the lift at just one of the two entrances is not just inconvenient for passengers, it also means that the one available lift is very busy. Network Rail says that the lift is used around 600,000 times a year, which they say is high compared to the lifts in other stations that it manages.
Having two lifts will also improve step-free reliability for passengers when one has to be taken out of service for maintenance.
The lift will be a standard Network Rail 16-person lift with doors on both sides so that people can walk in and out the other side without needing to reverse back out if only one door has been provided.
Axonometric views of the proposed lift (c) Corstorphine & Wright / Network Rail / Planning Documents
The new lift will sit behind the escalators and stairs, level with the plaza directly outside the station. However, that plaza is a couple of steps above the street level, and the plans don’t include works to the plaza outside the station, so for wheelchairs and the like, street to platform step-free access will remain possible from the other entrances to the station at the bus station end.
The plaza entrance to the station next to the escalators – sign points to the lift at the far end of the station, but will also point to the new lift (c) ianVisits
The application is pending approval from the City of London, so it’ll be a while before building works can start on the new lift.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We’re keen to improve accessibility for all our passengers at our managed stations and across the network. Our proposals for a new lift in Liverpool Street station will help improve the step free access provision at one of London’s busiest stations between the concourse and mezzanine (street) level for the benefit and inclusion of all station users.”
This is good news. I was at Liverpool Street last week and trying to get to platform level with a child asleep in a buggy. The one lift was out of order, as are all the down escalators in the main station area, so I had to go to the recently redeveloped shop area to the west of the station to get down.
Come to think of it, it’s odd they didn’t consider adding another lift as part of that redevelopment…
This is good news however there remains the major problem navigating from the Underground. Travellers from the Central Line and other underground moving between the upper concourse, struggle with steps plus baggage, buggies etc. I’ve been one of many people with mobility issues arriving on Central Line looking up those stairs with dread.
I still can’t believe there isn’t lift access to both circle line platforms.
There is a small ramp from the plaza to street level in the front left corner when facing Bishopsgate There is also a short rise lift from the underground ticket hall to the main line level although it is not obvious.
THere’s also a bollard in the middle of the small ramp.