Following recent issues finding suitable routes around London and having massive issues with TFL’s journey planning and step free access I have been forced to make the following decisions on meetings in London.
All face to face meetings will now take place at venues at or in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport.
This policy takes effect from 01 September 2020. There will be no exceptions to this policy.
I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
I have written in the past of the ineptitude of Transport for London and their attitude for the disabled traveler on their services, you can read that here. I won’t harp on about my particular disabilities as most regular readers are probably bored of that subject.
Every time I plan a visit to London I hit a big problem. That of maximising my time there and this where the whole falls down. Trying to arrange more than one meeting in a day and traveling between them. Let me give you an example, today I needed to plan 2 meetings and travel between them. The first a meeting at St Mary Axe in EC3. The second meeting is in Shepherds Bush London W12. So off to the journey we go. 1st step: Walk for 14 mins to Tower Hill Tube! Spectacular fail as I am physically unable to walk 14 metres let alone for 14 minutes! Unfortunately I hit this problem every single time. This is why this new policy is required. It is futile to travel over 100 miles just for one meeting too.
I changed the journey slightly and my second journey wanted me to use 5 busses! Second fail. There are 5 points of failure here and they all relate to London traffic. If one bus is late or non-existent I am late for meeting 2. Not a good look even if the meeting is with a friendly client or associate.
With this new policy I have more time for meetings and can schedule between 5 and 7 meetings into a one day visit to London. All venues are accessible and I feel this represents a good mix of requirements well.
This is a poor show for TFL who in the past have in my opinion overly discriminated in favour of the disabled or “disadvantaged” employee when hiring staff. I wonder how many of their staff face the same issue with journey planning?
Its a shame for London too. London is a great city even if things such as stabbings are out of control and richly deserves my time. I must also apologise to bar and restaurant owners who will be denied the contents of my wallet going forward!
This not an easy decision to take but I have no other choice.