Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North, Labour)

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what monitoring his Department undertakes of the construction of step-free access to interchange stations in London; how much funding his Department has allocated for that programme of work; and what recent assessment he has made of progress towards completion of that programme.

Chris Mole (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Ipswich, Labour)

38 mainline rail stations in London boroughs have been included in the Access for All programme and are due to receive an accessible route to and between platforms serving passenger trains. Each of these sites has some interchange with the tube, Docklands Light Railway, buses or other modes of transport.

Until detailed designs have been prepared for all these sites, it is too early to give an accurate estimate of the total investment required to deliver the work. However, the programme overall has a ring-fenced budget of £370 million until 2015.

The projects are being delivered by Network Rail, and progress is monitored at monthly programme group meetings and through site visits by officials. Delivery on the programme has improved this year and we expect 11 stations in London boroughs to be completed during 2010.