Escalators at Embankment tube station?

[dstein]

London-based folks, a question re: Underground from Heathrow T3 to the Trafalgar Square area.  We're likely to be staying at The Clermont Charing Cross.

 

The most direct route appears to be Elizabeth Line -> Northern Line@Tottenham Court -> Charing Cross.  However, I note from research that Charing Cross involves a LOT of stairs up and this is not attractive when hauling our luggage around.

 

The longer but less stair-intensive route appears to be to exit at Embankment.  But which line is best?  I'm confused as to which line(s) have access to escalators vs stairs.

 

NORTHERN is extremely deep.  Can you take escalators UP to (at least) the DISTRICT level if arriving on the southbound platform?  Can you take escalators ALL THE WAY UP to street level? My research has left me confused as to whether the escalators are available for southbound travelers, as well as to how many stairs the escalator replaces.

 

DISTRICT is shallower and therefore (worst case) is a few short flights of stairs.  Are there escalators UP available for those arriving on the eastbound platform?  (I understand that choosing this route means using Piccadilly Line -> District@Hammersmith -> Embankment.)

[gumshoe958]

Neither Embankment nor Charing Cross is entirely step free unfortunately, but both have escalators that’ll take you the majority of the way between the Northern line platforms and the street. 
 

Of the two, Embankment is easier to navigate and has fewer stairs, although it does involve a 5 minute walk uphill to your hotel. Charing Cross is a maze with many exits, most of which involve stairs between the subterranean ticket hall and the street.

 

As you note, the District line at Embankment is shallower and only has stairs, no escalators.

 

 

[Island2Dweller]

If I wanted to do that journey, and wanted to avoid stairs, I would take the Elizabeth Line to Tottenham Court Road, then hop on a bus down to Trafalgar Square.

Note that the Elizabeth line trains are faster and more comfortable than the tube, they're "full size" trains with air-con.  There are two exits at Tottenham Court road, you want the front exit (front of the train you get off).  All Elizabeth line stations have lifts and escalators.

Buses are low floor (only a single step to get on), and you can put your bags in the wheelchair area.  Should a wheelchair user be occupying that space, you'd just wait for the next bus, they are every couple of minutes.

[cruiseaholic78]

Maybe this will help.

https://www.space-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Avoiding-Stairs-on-the-Tube2.pdf

Rosalyn

[Cotswold Eagle]

5 minutes ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

Maybe this will help.

https://www.space-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Avoiding-Stairs-on-the-Tube2.pdf

Rosalyn

That's very out of date (2011) - not sure why you posted from a third party site. 

 

The current TfL version is here, or their app (TFL Go) has a host of step free information.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/step-free-tube-guide-map.pdf

[cruiseaholic78]

Yes I just realised that and was looking for a more up to date version, you beat me to it!

Rosalyn

[Thejuggler]

Elizabeth Line from T3 to Tottenham Court Road, black cab for the remainder of the journey.

[dstein]

Thanks for the responses!  In particular, the suggestions to transfer to bus or taxi @ Tottenham Court are really appreciated.  While I wasn't trying to eliminate 100% of the stairs, it seems like adding in buses is potentially even faster than transferring to another tube line.  The pointer re: single step access to buses was also an eye-opener.  This combo would eliminate the risk of escalator breakdowns at Embankment throwing a wrench into the works.

 

I did eventually find a video of someone walking through the station and it turns out that the walker follows the exact path of interest.

 

 

Video around 18:20 DEFINITELY shows walker standing on Northern's SB platform #4 - i.e. exactly where we'd end up if we decide to take Elizabeth Line from LHR and change to Northern at Tottenham Court, exiting at Embankment instead of Charing Cross.  The walker exits the platform directly onto an escalator going up.  At the top, walks straight off the escalator (with a slight jog to the left) and follows signage toward Northern NB platform 3/Bakerloo platform 5+6 (probably ignoring nearby "Way out" signage).  When this walk dead ends (with District/Circle's WB platform 1 on the left and EB platform 2 and "Way out" sign pointing right), walker turns right, goes up 3 steps, and THEN follows "Way out" signs up escalator to exit gates and finally walks out to Villiers Street.  So this video shows you can get off a SB train and get directly to street level via escalator with just 3 small steps up along the way. 

[Globaliser]

On 3/21/2024 at 9:41 PM, dstein said:

Video around 18:20 DEFINITELY shows walker standing on Northern's SB platform #4 - i.e. exactly where we'd end up if we decide to take Elizabeth Line from LHR and change to Northern at Tottenham Court, exiting at Embankment instead of Charing Cross.  The walker exits the platform directly onto an escalator going up.  At the top, walks straight off the escalator (with a slight jog to the left) and follows signage toward Northern NB platform 3/Bakerloo platform 5+6 (probably ignoring nearby "Way out" signage).  When this walk dead ends (with District/Circle's WB platform 1 on the left and EB platform 2 and "Way out" sign pointing right), walker turns right, goes up 3 steps, and THEN follows "Way out" signs up escalator to exit gates and finally walks out to Villiers Street.  So this video shows you can get off a SB train and get directly to street level via escalator with just 3 small steps up along the way. 

 

I think it may be simpler than that. The up escalator from platform level ends at 19:05. The camera turns to the left at 19:30 to show a lit "Way Out" sign. A person in a yellow hat walks towards that sign, preceded by someone in a pink top who walks from right to left. You can just see the beginning of another escalator that these people appear to be heading towards. I think that this escalator may well go directly up to ticket hall level. If so, then there are no steps between the Northern Line southbound platform and ticket hall level. If you then exit through the gate line and turn left to walk north up Villiers Street, I think that there are no steps on exiting the station. And helpfully, Villiers Street is being re-paved at the moment so that everything is level.

 

I wish I'd seen this thread before I went through Embankment Tube earlier today, because I could have confirmed all of this directly rather than going from memory.

[dstein]

Certainly possible, but without visual proof I'm not prepared to trust it.  (In the USA, Missouri has the nickname "The 'Show Me' State".  I'm not from there...but in this instance I feel a kin-ship. )

 

FWIW: A reason for my initial question was that online research turned up phrases like "you can only do this [get direct to street level via escalators] from the northbound platform [of the Northern Line]" and/or written instructions that talked about taking stairs "to the intermediate level".  The video gave me unambiguous proof that starting at the SB platform that you could get up to Villiers St w/no more than 3 steps - following an admittedly winding journey to get from the SB platform over to the area of the NB platform.

 

You have hit on the crux of it: where does that escalator near the SB platform that is seen (but not used) in the video ACTUALLY go?  All the way to the ticket hall or somewhere else, necessitating traversing more [than 3] stairs?

  

Hopefully, someday, someone younger and more adventurous can confirm that there's a faster route from SB platform to street level.  If your journeys do take you back there and you can figure it out it will be akin to Sir Edmund H. scaling Everest.  OK...that may be a BIT of hyperbole...but it would be great to learn what reality is.  Until then, I (at least) can be content following the path shown in the video while dragging my luggage around.  

[Globaliser]

On 3/27/2024 at 1:11 PM, Globaliser said:

I think that this escalator may well go directly up to ticket hall level.

 

I have now checked this, and I had confused my escalators. The mystery escalator that you can't quite see in the video is actually a down escalator to the southbound Northern Line platform. To go up to the ticket hall, you actually have to keep walking away from the camera, follow the passageway around to the right, and then take an up escalator. However, at the top of that escalator there are then four steps to reach ticket hall level.

There is step-free exit from the northbound Northern Line platform via two escalators, including the last escalator shown in the video, so I think that this must be the route that I had been thinking of.

 

The ticket hall is definitely step-free to Villiers Street.