All Crossrail stations to have 'step-free' access

All of the Crossrail stations will include step-free access, the Department for Transport has announced.

Langley in Berkshire, and Taplow and Iver stations, in Buckinghamshire, will receive £14m to make them accessible.

This means all 40 Crossrail stations will now have step-free access by the time trains are running across the network by December 2019.

Transport for All, which has campaigned for step-free access across Crossrail, said it was "delighted".

Trains will start running through central London between Paddington and Abbey Wood by December 2018.

"I am delighted to confirm the funding of these important accessibility improvements," said transport minister Baroness Susan Kramer.

"This is another example of our commitment to build a world-class rail network that is open to all," she added.

Transport for All director Faryal Velmi said: "We have campaigned for over a year-and-a-half for this and are delighted.

"It was scandalous to think a new rail line was to be built that was not going to be fully accessible," she added. "Common sense prevailed."

The government's investment package builds on Transport for London's announcement in October that it would fund step-free access at Seven Kings, Maryland, Manor Park stations, in east London, and Hanwell station, in west London.

The £14.8bn Crossrail project is set to boost London's rail capacity by 10%, with up to 24 trains per-hour each carrying up to 1,500 passengers in the central section between Paddington and Whitechapel during peak hours.

By the time the line is fully operational it will link parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, via central London, to Essex and south-east London.