A new step-free entrance has been opened at Knightsbridge station, five years later than Transport for London (TfL) originally promised.

The station, on London Underground‘s Piccadilly line, is the 93rd Tube station to have step-free access. This is only around one-third of the network’s stations.

Knightsbridge now boasts a new entrance on Hooper’s Court. The entrance features three lifts, each of which can carry up to seventeen people.

These are the first lifts at the station to provide access from the street to the platforms.

To enable the construction of the new entrance, Transport for London (TfL) has worked with the Knightsbridge Estate.

This is a three-and-a-half-acre site between Harrods and Harvey Nichols, and is being developed by Chelsfield, which aims to “reposition the tenant mix towards premium and luxury retail”.

The Knightsbridge Estate has redeveloped the building directly above the Underground station. This has involved reopening parts of the station that were taken out of use in the 1930s when escalators were installed.

During the work, the architectural features of the façade were restored, and other areas were modernised. TfL built the new entrance, and implemented step-free access.

TfL is encouraging passengers who do not need step-free access to continue using the station’s main entrance on Brompton Road.

The new entrance also means that Knightsbridge station will be able to accommodate more passengers, which TfL sees as important due to the businesses and tourist attractions, the southern part of Hyde Park, located nearby.

TfL points out that this work represents a move towards the Mayor’s goal – which it calls “ambitious” – of making half of London Underground’s stations step-free.

This will improve the network’s accessibility to Londoners and visitors, especially wheelchair users and people travelling with buggies or bulky luggage, although even when the target is reached, half of Tube stations will still be accessible only by steps.

Work is underway to make East London’s Leyton station step-free.

“I am determined to do everything I can to make our transport network as fair and accessible as possible so that every Londoner can make the most of our city. Knightsbridge Tube station is one of the busiest stations in the capital, seeing more than 13 million journeys each year, attracting visitors to some of our most famous tourist destinations. This important upgrade will bring us closer to my target of making 50 per cent of Tube stations step-free by 2030 as we build a better and safer London for all.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan