Transport for London (TFL) have confirmed that plans to make Rickmansworth station step-free by the end of the year have been put on hold.
Plans were announced in 2018 for the train stop by the Mayor of London’s office. Along with twelve other stations, it was to be made completely accessible by 2022 in a £200 investment across the network. The southbound platform entrance is currently step-free, while the northbound platform remains to have limited access.
Now, a spokesperson for TFL has confirmed to RICKYnews that due to the ongoing certainty around the organisation’s longer-term future funding, step-free projects not currently in the middle of production, such as Rickmansworth station, have now been put on hold.
Explaining the issues that have caused the decision to be made, the spokesperson said:
“Should TfL be required to move to a ‘Managed Decline’ scenario due to no sufficient long-term Government funding being forthcoming, investment in further improving step-free access at stations would be impacted.
“This would likely mean that no step-free access schemes, other than those which are currently in construction, would be completed – unless they were funded by third parties.”
TFL’s finances took a major hit during the coronavirus pandemic and the various lockdowns that prevented the usual number of passengers that use its service from doing so, greatly decreasing revenue.
However, the plans to make Rickmansworth station step-free haven’t been completely scrapped yet, just delayed.
Picture credit Sunil Prasannan
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