A Station for All/Design for All

Numerous extensions, new projects and feasibility studies for new Urban Railways are taking place all over the world. Very often the stations and rolling stock do not fulfil the idea of "stations for all" or "design for all". Often the station design has some "ad on elements" so the systems can be used by a few disabled people. Very often the design basis for new APMs is done by highly respected specialists, and very often the architect/designer is attached to the process at a very late stage, so late that the stations are not for everybody. Usually, disabled people have a very different access route, and very often they must ask for assistance to enter the system. When designing the new Metro in Copenhagen one of the key words was "Stations for All". When you just address the different user groups in the disabled organisations you do not design for all. There are groups outside the normal user organisations that have problems entering a public Mass Transport System. "A design for All" must consider all the different groups and different needs. Problems like; the lift is situated a long distance from the main entrance, lifts do not take bikes or twin prams, blind people can not enter the system without assistance, elderly people and females are afraid of using the stations in the evening and night. One can reel off a lot of examples that could have been solved for no extra cost as long as it's done from the start. No extra cost is involved in thinking - and in "thinking in Design for All". With the New Metro in Copenhagen as a case story, the paper will go through examples on how all parts of the design process had the "Design for All" in consideration.