Finsbury Park update
Transport for All
Work has now begun on Finsbury Park station...
Work has now begun on Finsbury Park station improvements which includes lifts being installed providing step free access from the ticket hall to all overground platforms, due to be completed by 2013.
Hopefully this will encourage TfL to further improve on this work to make the Underground platforms at Finsbury Park accessible too.
Finsbury Park station was orginally part of the step free programme announced by Ken Livingstone, which would make 33% of all undergrounds stations accessible by 2013. However, in 2008 Boris Johnson announced that due to financial pressures on Transport for London the ‘step free’ programme will be cut back, and in June 2009 the Mayor stated that advancing any of the deferred step free access schemes is not currently possible due to funding constraints.
Network rail released this information earlier this week;
“The first phase of a major project to improve facilities and access at Finsbury Park station and ultimately provide extra capacity for more trains into central London begins this week.
“Over the next three years, multi-million pound investments from Network Rail, First Capital Connect and the Department for Transport will see platform canopies refurbished and extended, waiting shelters erected and a new footbridge and lifts constructed to make travelling easier and more pleasant for station users.
“Platforms 3 and 5 are being extended to accommodate 12-carriage trains, improving capacity on the outer suburban routes.
“And a vital scheme to boost capacity on the East Coast Main Line between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace will also see disused platforms brought back into use at both stations and conversion of a line currently used by freight trains to passenger status. In the short term this will ease congestion and improve service reliability. In the longer term, as more trains are made available through the Thameslink Programme, the upgrade will make space for more services across all routes, including direct trains through to London Bridge and beyond.
“Connecting the new platform at Finsbury Park to the rest of the station will be a new, fully-accessible footbridge with lifts, providing step-free access between the ticket office and all platforms for the first time. Network Rail and First Capital Connect are consulting on the details of the scheme with the local planning authority, which is funded by the government’s Access for All programme. It is anticipated that both the new platform and footbridge will be in use in 2013.”
