Transport for London (TfL)’s Access All Areas show will highlight innovations aimed at making it easier for everyone to get out and about in the capital.

It will feature a raft of interactive exhibits such as full-scale mock-ups of London Underground stations, with ramps onto trains, and plans for ‘talking bollards’ which give directions to the visually-impaired.

Also on show will be TfL’s new Innovation Bus, which alerts passengers standing on the lower deck when there are seats upstairs, which then frees space for wheelchair users downstairs.

The aim of the show, thought be one of the largest of its kind ever staged, is to provide a ‘safe’ environment for disabled people to try out travelling on TfL’s increasingly accessible network.

Another key aim of the exhibition is allow disabled people the chance to question transport chiefs about plans to make TfL’s network even easier to use, and to air issues in a constructive way.

Visitors will be able to discuss the way stations and vehicles are designed for accessibility, and to take part in seminars with leaders in the transport field.

Exhibition organiser James Grant, of TfL, said, “We’re trying to make the TfL network more accessible every year, partly through major infrastructure change, like putting in new lifts, where we can, but just as importantly through the applied use of state-of-the-art innovation.

“This exhibition is a chance for everyone to experience some of these innovations in a controlled environment, and just to become a bit more familiar with our network

“As importantly, we’re aware that we still have long way to go before our network is fully accessible, so this is a chance for people to talk to us about what we’re doing and how we doing it.”

The accessibility show is being held at London’s Excel Centre, which is donating its exhibition area to TfL at no cost, on October 2nd, 2014.  The doors will be open from 0930 to 1630.

Visitors may wish to arrive sooner rather than later – earlybirds will be eligible for free tickets for the fully accessible Emirates Air Line cable car, and discounted tickets for TfL’s Thames Clipper river trips.

Exhibitors/Participants at the show include:

  • Train companies
  • University academics
  • London Councils
  • Transport for All
  • Guide Dogs