Travelling on the London Underground may be one of the quickest and most convenient forms of transport for many people, but for Mums and Dads with baby buggies the thought of tackling The Tube might sound like a complete nightmare!
At Mapway we’ve teamed up with the guys at Station Master to understand just how easy it can be to get around Capital city with a baby buggy when using the London Underground.
Travel light
If you’ve not got one already and are planning on using the Tube regularly – it might be worth investing in a lightweight buggy. Getting on and off Tubes can be a bit of a struggle at the best of times but with a heavy/bulky baby buggy it can be a nightmare.
Find some space
No one likes feeling cramped and if you pick the right lines, it’s possible to avoid it and find some room. The District, Jubilee and Northern line trains have multipurpose areas suitable for buggies (as well as wheelchairs and luggage). There are also spaces for wheelchairs on the Victoria and Metropolitan line Tubes that TfL encourage people with buggies to use if they are unoccupied.
Use contactless payments
According to our latest data there are multiple ticket machines at every station – 1,314 in total across the whole London Underground. That’s great but if you’re travelling with little ones there are better ways to pay without the need to queue. Contactless payment means you can forget topping-up an Oyster Card or buying a ticket and it’s cheaper than paying cash. For older children, 5-10 year olds can travel for free with a Zip Oyster Photocard.
Mind the Gap!
It’s probably the most famous phrase associated with the London Underground but ‘minding the gap’ can become a very real issue when travelling with a baby buggy. If you’re getting off the Tube at a station with a big gap between the Tube and the platform edge, it’s much easier to get off backwards.
According to our data (available in the Tube Map app) the station with the largest gap is at Willesden Junction (Platform 5 heading Westbound) which is 220mm. So maybe best to just avoid that one.
Avoid rush hour
It might sound obvious but unless you absolutely can’t avoid it, rush hour will be a difficult time to travel with a baby buggy. Unfortunately rush ‘hour’ in London is more like five. Times to avoid are 7am-9am and 4pm-7pm. During this time it is possible to commute on the Underground with a buggy but the Tubes will be very cramped and often get very hot too.
Call in reinforcements and plan ahead
Working out how to get around London with a baby buggy when using the Tube can be stressful but there are tools that can help.
In the run up to Mother’s Day, we thought it was the perfect time to release an exciting new feature in our London Tube Map app that will help mums travelling with baby buggies. Included in the app is a handy new accessibility feature for every single station on the Underground.
The feature gives a rating to each station entrance and exit showing how accessible it is for Mums and Dads travelling with baby buggies. A green tick indicates full accessibility, a yellow exclamation mark indicates partial accessibility and a red cross indicates it is not accessible at all.
If you have not already downloaded Tube Map, the app is free to download on iOS and Android devices.
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