In Response to an invitation by the Commons Transport Select Committee the following written evidence on the transport plan for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and in particular the Delivery of a transport legacy following the Games, has been submitted with the support of the Westcombe Society and accepted by the Commons Select Transport Committee.
Disabled access at Maze Hill Station as an Olympic Legacy for the Maritime
Greenwich World Heritage Site
1. Executive Summary
1.1. The Royal Borough of Greenwich is committed to ensuring convenient
and safe access for disabled spectators to the Olympic Equestrian Events,
including access from Maze Hill Station.
1.2. Network Rail, Southeastern
Trains and the Olympic Delivery Authority have undertaken to provide the
necessary infrastructure at Maze Hill Station to achieve this, but the current
plans make no such provision, and disabled visitors using Platform 2 at Maze
Hill Station must negotiate a 51-step footbridge, which is clearly impracticable.
1.3. A gently sloping ramp from the roadway to platform 2 and, optimally,
a pedestrian walkway alongside the Maze Hill bridge (comparable to the existing
walkway at the equally narrow road bridge in Vanbrugh Hill), is the
infrastructure required to provide the necessary access. The walkway over the
track would avoid the narrow pavement on Maze Hill bridge and enable
pedestrians and wheelchair users to reach the Olympic venue safely.
1.4. There is still time to make the changes, at modest cost (none of the
other proposed infrastructure such as stepped footbridges over Romney Road and
the A2, or inclined ramps over the Ha-Ha by the Queens House has yet been
started). The ramp and walkway would be a permanent legacy for visitors to the
internationally important Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site which is
currently inaccessible to disabled visitors arriving from London at the
designated rail station.
1.5. After a structural failure threatening the 2010 Commonwealth Games
in Delhi, the Indian Army constructed similar infrastructure in four days flat
at far lower cost than the original. No cost
of removal the proposed infrastructure
(unlike the other elements) would be incurred if it were left as a permanent
legacy for visitors to what is a key world, national and local tourist destination
currently inaccessible to disabled visitors from the designated Maze Hill rail
station less than 200 yards away.
Detail
2.
Maritime Greenwich World
Heritage Site
2.1. Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site is a major visitor attraction. It contains glorious architecture such as
Inigo Jones’ The Queens House; the Painted Hall and Chapel of the Old Royal
Naval College; the Cutty Sark, Ranger’s House; and Vanbrugh Castle, as well as
the church of St Alphege, the millennium of whose martyrdom in 1012 is being
commemorated this year. It contains world class museums in the Royal Museums, as
well as world class collections in the Fan Museum and the Wernher Collection in
Ranger’s House. It houses the Meridian
Line from which there are spectacular views of London and its river.
2.2. The principal rail station for the World Heritage Site is Maze Hill
Station, less than 200 yards from Greenwich Park. There are trains every ten minutes from
London Bridge station which whisk visitors to the site in an average time of 13
minutes. Maze Hill Station provides
step-free access from Platform 1 to reach to the World Heritage Site and Olympic
venue. But disabled visitors using
Platform 2 must negotiate a 51-step
footbridge which is clearly impracticable.
3. The Olympic Equestrian
Events
3.1.
Because of its iconic status
and its inherent beauty, as well as its proximity to the Olympic Village,
Greenwich Park was designated the venue of choice for the 2012 Olympic
Equestrian Events. As part of the
Planning Process, the Royal Borough of Greenwich committed itself “to
ensuring convenient and safe access for disabled spectators.... as part of a planning
condition “[1]. That
commitment expressly included “clearly
defined spectator walking routes (including for those who are less able) will
be established well in advance” including from Maze Hill Station[2].
3.2.
The commitment was based on assurances the Royal
Borough had received from Network Rail, Southeastern Trains and the ODA, as
stated in the 2010 report, viz:-
Network Rail and South Eastern Trains, who operate Blackheath and
Maze Hill stations, have plans to improve these stations. As an interested party/stakeholder
London 2012 will be working with these bodies to explore opportunities to
deliver the needed improvements. It is important to note that the Council are
confident that effective transport operations for the Events at Greenwich can
be delivered by the existing and additional rail infrastructure (being provided
by the ODA)[3]
4.
Maze Hill Station
4.1. Maze Hill station is located on a section of track between
two narrow road bridges in Maze Hill and Vanbrugh Hill. Because the pavements over the bridge are so
narrow, a parallel segregated walkway has been in place in Vanbrugh Hill for
many years for the safety of pedestrians.
Vanbrugh
Hill Pedestrian Walkway
5. Proposed Additional Infrastructure
5.1. There is no walkway for the Maze Hill Bridge comparable to the one
at the Vanbrugh Hill bridge, notwithstanding the narrow pavements or the fact
that
a) Maze Hill has
been designated part of the Alternate Olympic Route Network, and b) LOCOG
proposes that it forms part of the ‘Last Mile route’ between Maze Hill Station
and the Olympic venue.
5.2. For the safety of spectators using the proposed ‘Last Mile’ route
(see Appendix) it seems very desirable to provide a pedestrian walkway on the
Maze Hill Bridge. This would enable spectators to cross Maze Hill at a much
safer location than currently proposed, to a much wider pavement capable of
accommodating bunching of spectators and wheelchair users.
5.3. Provision of a segregated walkway would also enable disabled and
other spectators arriving at Platform 1 of Maze Hill Station to use the
step-free incline on the southern side of the station, cross the railway using the
segregated walkway rather than a narrow pavement on the road bridge itself, and
cross the road to a wide pavement further from the blind bend in Maze Hill.
5.4. There is currently no step free access for disabled and others
spectators using Platform 2 on the northern side of the station comparable to
the existing step free access from Platform 1 on the southern side of the
station. But the latest application for
approval of the ‘Last Mile” route from the venue to Maze Hill station still
makes no provision for disabled spectators, despite the commitment of Network Rail and South Eastern Trains, together with the Olympic Delivery Authority, to do so.
5.5. There has been continuing delay in submitting proposals for the
infrastructure required to enable the Royal Borough of Greenwich to honour its
commitment to ensure convenient and safe access for disabled spectators to the
venue, including from Maze Hill Station, as part of the planning process. The delay is reducing the time available for
consideration and approval of a safe ‘Last Mile’ route between the venue and
the nearest rail station at Maze Hill.
The infrastructure this document proposes is shown diagrammatically
below:
Proposed
New Infrastructure
5.6. When a bridge collapsed, putting the 2010 Commonwealth Games in
Delhi in Jeopardy, the Indian army installed a replacement in four days flat at
a far lower cost than the original. It
would be equally straightforward to install a gently sloping ramp to Platform 2
paralleling the existing gentle incline to Platform 1. This would provide
access to disabled users, parents with pushchairs and others unable use the
existing 51 Step footbridge between the platforms, as well as a safer ‘Last
Mile’ route to the venue from either platform.
6.
Olympic Legacy
6.1. The proposed new infrastructure would not only enable the Royal
Borough of Greenwich to honour its commitment
to ensure convenient and safe access for
disabled spectators to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian events, but would provide a permanent Olympic legacy
for visitors to the World Heritage Site and its Royal attractions (See
Appendix). Unlike the pedestrian (stepped) bridges to be built across the A2
and Romney Road, and the inclined ramps to be installed over the Ha-Ha at the
Queens House, which will all be removed
after the Games (at additional cost), there would be no expense required to
remove these improvements, which could remain a permanent legacy of the Games.
6.2. Greenwich Park was chosen because the Olympic and
Paralympic Games greatly benefited from the use of such an iconic location (at
considerable inconvenience to the local community). It seems the least that the ODA could do is
to upgrade the station infrastructure as a small gesture of thanks for this
great privilege. It would be at
relatively low cost and would benefit
future generations of visitors to the World Heritage Site when it is
restored to full public use. It would
also be a legacy for the local community and the Royal borough in this Jubilee
year.
7. Recommendation
7.1. The Select Committee is requested to support the provision of a ramp
from Platform 2 to the road, and walkway alongside the road bridge, at Maze
Hill station to provide safe and convenient access for all visitors, including
the disabled, as an Olympic legacy for the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage
Site.
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