Stop using disabled parking bays – a quick ‘two minutes’ is no excuse

A year after the Elizabeth line opened fully, the blue badge parking spaces at its stations are congested with drivers using them as waiting bays, says James Moore. For disabled commuters like me, it’s not just unthinking – it’s cruel

Parking spaces reserved for blue badge holders outside Elizabeth line stations are routinely occupied by ordinary vehicles

One year ago today, the Elizabeth line was fully operational for the first time – four years behind schedule and, after £18.9bn spent, several billion over budget. And it’s been nothing but trouble ever since.

Regular users are now accustomed to the daily delays and massive overcrowding on a line that was supposed to ease the strain on the London Underground, not add to it. Its giant, nine-carriage trains were designed to each carry 1,500 passengers, but are now routinely over-capacity, to the point you have to push your way on in rush hour.

To add to the misery, it has been revealed that one in every 10 trains on the Elizabeth line is cancelled, a situation compounded by regular track faults and signal failures. This summer, operations even had to be suspended after a report of a “swan on the line”. It is officially the worst-performing train service in Britain.