Info needed re tube station in London
 

Specifically I need to know about the High Street Kensington station.

I need to know how many steps there are in the staircase.

Really I need other information that will help to assess how manageable the station is for a person who is ambulatory but disabled.

Also someone somewhere mentioned that in changing at Earl's Court, it is necessary to go up a short flight of stairs. How "short" is that flight?

In 2004, I got a book from one of the tube stations that gave detailed information about each one of the stations. It told how many feet it was from the entrance to the barrier, how many steps in each staircase, how many flights of stairs, etc. That allowed the individual to judge whether a particular station was accessible for them.

Is something like that available online?

I have been to the Transport for London site and downloaded their two guides, "Avoiding Stairs" and "Step-Free". Neither has the information I need.

Any help on this would be appreciated. Like if you remember using the stairs at Earls Court and think there are only four or five; or, really, anything!

It isn't just the stairs - many tube stations require VERY long walks under ground. And where there are stairs, (even short flights) they are often very crowded/difficult because many people are all getting off the same train. An 'ambulatory but not disabled' person will MUCH happier using the buses.

oops --that should have said >>An 'ambulatory but disabled' person will MUCH happier using the buses.<<

Completely concur with janisj.

Your question thinks it's about one station, then you throw another one in. Scarcely anyone in its London Underground's 150 years has limited their use to just two stations: no journey in history has involved just one station

Even if there is a detailed guide available, <b> seeking precision on this is a completely spurious, self-deluding activity</b>.

Escalators break down, lifts get repaired, a leaking roof forces a passage to be closed. Some problem somewhere in the system means a journey has to be completely re-routed at a few seconds' notice. Daily minor irritants for the able-bodied, but potentially serious crises for the disabled - possibly creating a real safety threat for other passengers.

The London Underground was mostly built in an era when disability meant staying at home. It's not going to be fundamentally rebuilt, ever. The bus network has been spectacularly reconstructed over the past 15 years for easy journey planning and for disability-friendliness.

Don't waste energy quantifying the difficulties you'll face on the tube when it works, when there's a high likelihood a crucial bit won't work anyway on the journey you're planning. Buses are there to avoid those difficulties altogether

Agreed, buses will make life a lot easier! Even when a station is supposedly step free the lifts are closed or out of service all the time!

Agree! Even if they have handicap acess, it often isn't functioning. Take the bus and they even have seating for disabled >sometimes you have to give the able bodied sitting there DIrty looks or ask them to move.I have no qualms about doing it@

And on the bus, you can actually see London instead of a tunnel, albeit more slowly. But then slowing down on vacation is a Good Thing.

It's been a couple of years since I've stayed near Earl's Court Sta. (stayed near there twice though), but I can only remember one set of 4-5 steps that go all the way across the exit area just inside the Earl's Court Rd. exit.

I suggest that you go to Vienna instead. every station has a lift.

Take the bus! If I recall there were stairs and one escalator was broken when I went to the V&A (I'm sure it's fixed now). I took the bus everywhere and loved it. It is really easy. I promise.

we may have lost the OP . . . but just in case, For the V&A one wouldn't be using the High Street Kensington Station (that would be the South Kensington station)

Thank you all for your input. mogsanova, you were particularly helpful by giving me that link. I have been on the TfL site but never found a link to that particular page. It will be a great help.

For the rest of you, I agree that using the bus and seeing more of London is a good idea -- we have done that in the past. However, from our hotel to the particular places we want to go, we will have to change buses up to four times, making the trips much more complex and longer than if we take the tube.

The reason I mentioned Kensington High Street and Earls Court is because they are the ones closest to our hotel. If both are unusable for us, then we will not be taking the tube, regardless of the convenience.

I would suggest going back to the tfl.uk site and using their Journey Planner. It has a way to find routes with the least amount of steps, or ways to exclude tube travel. Try it out--hit "more options" button to get a plan that's best for you.
Also, you can print out the bus routes that go by your hotel area, and see where they go. I kept them in my purse at all times. Hit " Maps ", then "bus maps", then hit " central Area" bus maps. If you find certain route numbers that seem to work for you, go to the website area that has the individual route map, and print that out too.

At Earls court station there are steps from the picadilly line up to the District line platforms (I don't think there are escalators but I may be wrong). Then there are lifts from at least 1 or 2 district line platforms up to the Earls ct rd exit. I can't remember if the lift goes directly up/down to the picadilly line platforms. If your hotel is at/near the Warwick rd exit then there are only stairs up to the exit from the platforms. Though you could get the lift up (to the earls court rd exit) and then walk along the gangway to the Warick rd exit

Also I agree with all the other posters about using the bus rather than the tube especially for any one with walking difficulties.

You may also want to give us the name/address of your hotel so we can advise you which tube station is nearest if you really need to use one. It is quite a walk from Earls court to High street Kensington and anywhere inbetween the two stations could still be a fair walk for anyonw with walking difficulties

At Earls Court station, coming in from the west say Heathrow, the Picadilly line has descended well below the district line tracks. There is a short flight of steps from the Picadilly line (not that many), an escalator to a concourse level and then another flight of steps to the District line tracks. High Street Kensington is a circle line/district line station pretty mucvh at the surface but a flight of stairs to the concourse. South Kensington is pretty much the same deal as Earls Court vis a visa the relationship between the Picadilly and Circle/district line platforms but there are ifts up from the Picadilly platform to the concourse level (there is a stairway from the Circle/district line platform to the concurse leverl where the barriers are.....

It is for this reason, although not a concern of the op, that I usually recommend people coming in from Heathrow needing the District line for whatever the reason not to change at Earls Court but at Hammersmith where the Picadilly and District lines are still at the same level and no stairs are needed even though it might mean an extra change.