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An escalation of misery at Camden tube
DECREPIT escalators which broke down and forced travellers to walk extra miles in the heatwave are a harbinger of a decade of travel woe at Camden Town Tube station.
Emergency work to replace faulty steps closed one of the station’s two escalators for two weeks on June 15, and further urgent work will force the closure of the other escalator for nearly three months from July 22.
The platforms, among the deepest on the underground network, will be accessible only by stairs for that time, forcing those with pushchairs or difficulty walking to go to Mornington Crescent or Chalk Farm stations, and the station’s “exit only” policy, already in place on Sundays, will be extended to Saturdays.
Transport for London (TfL) said that no major funding for the Tube station will be available until at least 2018.
No one from Tfl was available to discuss the future of the station yesterday (Wednesday), but in a statement said: “The escalators at Camden Town station are over 25 years old and are in urgent need of repair. On June 15, one of the escalators needed to be taken out of service for just under two weeks to be repaired. Following complex and major work by our contractor Tube Lines to source, remove and instal new steps, the escalator went back into use on Saturday 27 June. Camden Town is a very busy station, especially at weekends and for this reason the station will be exit and interchange only on Saturdays and Sundays while vital improvement work takes place.”
Camden Town ward councillor Chris Naylor said he would seek a meeting with TfL to discuss the station. He said: “I haven’t seen a proposal for Camden Town Tube in the past three years, and everybody’s desperate for it to be made fully accessible. I will press for a meeting with Tfl.”
Camden Town, which is the centrepiece of the council’s hopes for economic expansion in the borough, has been hamstrung by the antiquated station.
Simon Pitkeathley, chief executive of business group Camden Town Unlimited, said: “We need a new Tube station – this must be one of London’s busiest and most important stations and there has to be investment.”
London Underground has long claimed that redesigning the access to Camden Town station would require a major redevelopment .
But LU’s ambitious redevelopment plans, involving the demolition of the Electric Ballroom and Buck Street market, were thrown out first by Camden Council in 2003, then by the government in 2005 after a planning enquiry. |
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Your comments:
It only takes 10 minutes to walk to Mornington Crescent or Chalk Farm from Camden Town; what's the problem? Why does all have to be sublimated to the lowest common denominator?
D. Prothero
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