FINSBURY PARK station closed all three entrances last Wednesday, leaving commuters late for work.
A TfL spokesperson suggested commuters should expect delays for another five months while the capacity of the spiral staircases is increased, with work to be completed by March 2014.
Severe overcrowding and the closure of the entrances resulted in commuters being banned from accessing the station for at least 20 minutes.
From 8.30 am staff allegedly told passengers there were too many people on the platform so they could not let anyone else in, only out.
Commuters took to social media to express their frustration. Luis Martin wrote on Twitter: “Finsbury Park station closed. Massive crowd. Love spending my Wednesday mornings queuing to use the travel card I spent over a grand on #tfl.”
Passengers then had little option but to wait for the station to reopen or plan alternative travel arrangements, leading to chaos at the National Rail entrance and bus routes out of the station.
This is not the first time overcrowding has forced the station’s entrances to close – a similar incident was reported on 24 September.
Commuters have criticised the station for being unable to cater to demand and for being insufficiently designed.
Anton Perreau, of Crouch End, was half an hour late for work and told Islington Now: “As a transport hub, Finsbury Park station requires significant work – it is difficult to navigate, badly designed and probably around 30 per cent of the size it should be.
“It is a disaster waiting to happen, especially if you’re disabled, not from North London or genuinely trying to get somewhere in time.
“It’s sad, because the ‘blue lightning’ – the Victoria Line – is the reason we live up here. But if we can’t use it effectively we’ll have to leave this area of London.”
Perreau also criticised TFL staff for not informing mainline train passengers of the closure until after they had left their carriages.
Luis Martin, from Finsbury Park, said: “Finsbury Park Underground Station isn’t big enough to deal with the number of people that go through it – especially since the new and ‘improved’ Victoria Line – and a lot of people change from the Piccadilly Line to the Victoria line.
“Team that with everyone who uses the station because they live near and you’ve got way too many people.”
Businesses surrounding the station are divided over the influence of overcrowding on sales.
Danny Folan, a fruit and vegetable seller on Wells Terrace, said: “We’ve got more chance of selling fruit if there are queues because our stall is so close to the station’s entrance.”
But one shopkeeper near the Seven Sisters Road entrance, who wanted to remain anonymous, said long queues have a detrimental effect on sales because people do not want to lose their spot.
Another shopkeeper on Seven Sisters Road, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said people are unlikely to spend time browsing if they are already running late.
But he added: “Staff shouldn’t be blamed for the overcrowding. They have to oversee passengers’ security.”
The stairwells connecting the Tube and National Rail services have been closed since 19 August when work began to double their capacity.
Lorraine Humphrey, Senior Project Manager at London Underground, said: “We appreciate that Finsbury Park Tube station can get busy for our customers, especially in the morning peak and we are working to relieve congestion by doubling the capacity of the spiral staircases.
“While we carry out this work, the spiral staircases are closed until the end of March 2014 and this inevitably means that the remaining entrances to the Tube platforms are busier than usual in particular at peak times.
TFL issued further comment: “We apologise in advance to our customers for this disruption. Once the work is complete there will be two extra staircases which will make changing between platforms easier and less busy.
“National Rail customers travelling to central London should avoid changing at Finsbury Park and if possible change at Highbury & Islington or King’s Cross.”
Local commuters are also advised to travel from other stations during rush hour, if possible.
