Baby-friendly Tube app helps buggy mummies steer clear of the stairs

 
Appy travellers: Jen Corlew and Jonah
Sophie Goodchild19 July 2013

A mother has created an app that finds baby-friendly Tube and DLR routes around London.

Jen Corlew started work on Gobaby after getting into difficulties on the Underground with her son Jonah, now 21 months, and a pram. The app helps parents find stations that are stair-free or have lifts and escalators, and highlights those with more than 10 steps. It provides service updates to reduce the chances of being left stranded with a screaming child on a platform.

Ms Corlew, 39, said she created it after a frightening experience when Jonah was two months old: “I was in Liverpool Street station at rush hour with my baby and pram. In the rush of people, no one could help me on the stairs.

“A gentleman knocked us onto the down escalator and I was paralysed with fear. My son had a smelly nappy as the train doors closed — perhaps he was as shaky and stressed as me.” Ms Corlew, who took a sabbatical from her job at the British Red Cross, carried out extensive research for the app, which launches on Monday.

Friends, including mothers from her antenatal class, helped research 315 routes. Harrow on the Hill (Metropolitan line) with 57 steps was one of the worst spots. Listed and older stations were especially challenging: Baker Street has 10 platforms, more than any other. All DLR stations have lifts or ramp access.

Rebecca Raimondo, 33, whose daughter Isabelle is 20 months old, said the app would be “invaluable ... Often you’re having to rely on a kind member of the public to help with your buggy.” The app also lists more than 1,000 places with baby-changing facilities, including cafés, libraries and shops.

Ms Corlew now hopes to team up with London Underground. She said: “I’m sure they try their best to make things parent-friendly. But my local station, Ealing Broadway, has 31 steps and staff are not allowed to help with the prams unless you take the baby out and fold it up for them to carry.”

Transport for London said: “We welcome this. We will help create more products like this when we make a new data feed available, free of charge, with accessibility information covering our rail services. Our website is also being overhauled to improve information.”

A total of 66 Tube stations are step-free. Another 27 Tube and Overground stations will become step-free over the next eight years. Gobaby for iPhone will be in the App Store at £1.49, with an Android due version out this autumn.

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