Northern Line station that’s been closed for 18 months finally reopens

Kentish Town Tube station will no longer be the London Underground station that time forgot.

Since June 2023, the Northern line stop has been shut so Transport for London (TfL) could carry out repairs.

This included, to quote TfL, fixing the ‘the most unreliable’ escalators on the network – a pair built in 1997.

‘The two escalators at Kentish Town are in urgent need of replacement due to their poor condition and performance,’ TfL says.

Kentish Town, between Tufnell Park and Camden Town on the High Barnet branch, was set to reopen in June. But things were worse than expected.

Structural elements of the station were ‘beyond repair’, according to papers provided to TfL’s programmes and investment committee.

So travel officials postponed the opening to September, only for degrading concrete in the ceiling and floor to push it again to late this year.

But TfL has, in what is a Christmas miracle for Northern line commuters, announced that the long-defunct station will finally be reopening today, on December 23.

…Just before closing early the next day for Christmas, that is.

If all goes to plan with the remaining touches, the station will be ‘future proof’.

The escalators are expected to last at least 40 years, while the rest of the station has been necked out with new ticket gates, signage and tiling.

‘Once we’ve completed the works, customers will see an improvement in reliability, avoiding short notice closures,’ TfL says.

For 18 months, Thameslink trains have been calling at the railway station but any riders wanting to switch to the Tube have had to get off.

And this will be the case for slightly longer, as engineering works mean transferring between the two can’t happen until December 30.

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