TfL consulting on huge Camden Town station expansion

Transport for London launched a public consultation on its plans to significantly increase capacity at one of the city’s most strained underground stations on Monday.

Camden Town, near the iconic Camden Markets in the northern parts of inner London, is currently so overcrowded it becomes exit-only on Sundays when visitor numbers to the markets peak.

It is also a major interchange point, as trains on the Bank and Charing Cross branches of the Northern line to the south of the station cross to continue their journeys on the High Barnet and Edgware branches north of the station, and vice versa.

A total of 30 million people currently use the interchange each year, with the number expected to increase 40% by 2021, after the opening of the Northern line extension to Battersea adds a sizeable number of new passengers and trains to run through the station.

The proposed upgrade would see the station treble in size, TfL said, with the construction of a new entrance on Buck Street, featuring three new escalators and greater space for customers using the four Northern line platforms.

The station would also be made step-free.ing customer journeys more comfortable, particularly during the busiest periods.

“Upgrading Camden Town Tube station will improve journeys for the tens of thousands of customers who use the station every day,” said Mark Wild, managing director of London Underground at TfL.

“The first consultation we held demonstrated overwhelming support for a station upgrade and we are now seeking views on our more detailed plans.

“We want to significantly improve journeys through Camden by giving customers a modern step-free station that is more spacious, accessible and equipped to support growing demand and the growing number of homes and jobs in the area.”

In the first public consultation, TfL said 95% of the 1,700 respondents agreed that the station needed an upgrade.

The new consultation would seek the public’s opinion over updated proposals to increase the capacity of the station, the local government body explained.