Real-time lift updates are sent more quickly to journey planning tools, helping customers with step-free access needs to plan their journey confidently. Faster notifications when a lift is out of service will enable lifts to be repaired more quickly, reducing disruption. TfL will introduce the technology at remaining Tube stations and other parts of the TfL transport network from later next year.
On International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December), TfL highlights this upgrade as part of its customer inclusion plan and ongoing commitment to improving step-free access and the accessibility of the network.
A third of lifts on TfL’s transport network now automatically report when they are out-of-service, with real-time updates sent to journey planning tools. This allows people with step-free access needs to plan their journeys with more certainty and confidence.
Step-free access is crucial for many TfL customers, including some disabled people, people with prams and pushchairs and those carrying luggage. A lift going out-of-service can force someone to abandon their journey or make alternative arrangements, which can lengthen or disrupt their journey.
Currently, 93 lifts at 28 Tube stations now self-report as out of service without the need to be reported by station staff. This new technology means journey planning tools, including the free TfL Go app and Journey Planner, are updated more quickly, and enables staff to seek assistance and get the lifts back into operation sooner.
The project is ongoing, with the first phase focussing on busy central London interchange Tube stations, including Bond Street, London Bridge and Tottenham Court Road, and end of the line stations such as Cockfosters and Morden. TfL will look to implement more than 20 further lift upgrades by the end of March 2026 as part of the first phase.
The second phase, beginning in 2026, will upgrade the remaining lifts on the Tube network, in addition to those across the TfL network on the Elizabeth line, London Overground, the IFS Cloud Cable Car and at Hammersmith Bus Station. Self-reporting lifts are a key commitment from TfL’s customer inclusion plan, Equity in Motion, which sets out more than 80 commitments to make the London transport network fairer, more accessible and more inclusive.
