Transport for London (TfL) have finally swung their axe and will close Tufnell Park tube for nine months from June 2015.
Despite a long protest campaign by locals to keep half the station open, TfL have insisted that full closure from 8 June is the only option to renovate the two “obsolete” lifts.
The decision was made with no community consultation, and will force several local businesses to close due to the massive drop in footfall.
Their fears are backed up by commuter data, released to Islington Now, which revealed that more than 8,700 tube journeys either start or finish at the station each day.
Bad news from @TfL – I’m afraid that #TufnellPark station will close completely for nine months from 8th June (until mid-March 2016).
— Save Tufnell Park (@SaveTufnellPark) March 11, 2015
Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that between October 2013 to September 2014, 3.1 million journeys were made using the station.
Ali Tepe, 33, has owned the nearby Tufnell Park Off Licence for two years and fears for the future of his business.
“It’s no good, it’s not fair, it’s no democracy,” he said.
“This area is busy because of the underground. When it closes on Saturdays and Sundays, business goes down as no one is there, and that’s just two days. So if it’s closed for seven months, the shop will shut down.
“How will I pay my bills without the underground?”
Laura Fenimore, Stakeholder Communications Manager at TFL, said: “The lifts at the station are nearly 40 years old, are unreliable and need to be replaced.
“Customer safety is our number one priority and, in order for us to replace the lifts in the safest way and with the least amount of disruption, we will need to close the station.
“This decision has not been taken lightly and we will be working hard to complete this vital work as quickly as possible.”
Commuters will be forced to use either Archway or Kentish Town stations as alternatives.
TFL said that they took into account letters of protest from residents but the suggestion to keep one lift in operation would cost £846,000 of public money, risk customer safety and take far longer.
“Keeping the station open and replacing one lift at a time represented an 80 week (or 20 month) programme of work compared with a 38 week (or 9 month) programme.”
“If only one ageing lift was in operation, the larger volume of customers using it would put additional stress on the remaining aged lift and would increase the risk of customers becoming trapped should the lift fail.”
Pushkin Cambridge, 45, runs a flower stall outside the station which will also close.
“I’m absolutely devastated because a month ago they said they probably weren’t going to close it. I will definitely be closing, as 90 per cent of my business comes from the tube.
“The Dome, the dry cleaners and the gift shop are all worried they might have to close.
“It is not conducive to the community, the elderly, people with children or businesses.”
Shocking, and likely a smoke screen for cost cutting. This will kill an area which only commercially came into its own within the past few years.
What will the council/government lose in rates, taxes, if business close,
I have been in denial about this situation. I signed petitions to no avail. TFL should absolutely have consulted. We pay for works to the tube infrastructure and as such, we should be able to comment on/be involved with decisions that are going to affect us. I would like to see the spread sheets and the actual costs involved. I find it hard to believe that having one lift worked on at a time would cost that much more. A pox on the people who made this decision.
It’s an outrage that people’s livelihoods are being put at stake. I don’t accept that one lift could not be used in conjunction with the stairs. This should not be allowed to happen. I would like to know why those that represent us have not made more of a stand. I hope that there is still a possibility to reconsider leaving one lift in operation.
When they did (doing!) the lifts at Covent Garden, they made the station exit only – to placate the local businesses. Presuming they’re doing the same (replacing one lift at a time), why can’t they just do the same here – make it exit only for a few months? That would surely be better then closing it completely.
Geoff Marshall; your contributions to the Internet are normally SO accurate, but this one is not.
Covent Garden has two lift shafts with two lifts in each (4 in total). If one lift fails in the shaft, you move the other (still functioning lift) alongside it and initiate a cross-transfer. They were working on 2 lifts at a time. You also cannot work in the shaft whilst lifts are going up and down; so works could only take place overnight, when the station is closed, because it would require BOTH lifts to be out of action.
Geoff, exit only will still impact on the vast majority of passengers only for 80 weeks instead of 38.
80 weeks of night works or 38 weeks of day working. I know which one I’d prefer if I was a local.
This was never going to be a popular move with local businesses but if they had been given a definite decision with more notice would at least had a chance to plan for reduced footfall. Although well intentioned, the campaign to keep the station open (Save Tufnell Park – really?) just resulted in uncertainty an less notice.
I have been told the bus fares to and from the station will be auto refunded to Oyster.
Apparently Pushkin the florist is relocating to http://futureandfound.com/ opposite the station in Brecknock Rd. It would be great if all those who signed the petition to keep Tufnell Park open for her sake could find the time to pop over and buy a bunch or two every so often.
I haven’t used the lifts in 20 years. I’m fortunate in being able to use the stairs, as do may other ‘customers’ I’ve noticed. Why can’t they keep the stairs open for the duration of the lift works so at least some of us could continue to use the station if we were able to, thereby easing pressure on Kentish Town & Archway and keeping some local footfall for local businesses?
How is it possible that fixing two lifts could take over nine months?!!! Even one month would seem like a long time for that job.
What are they doing? Digging new shafts, nine months is quite ridiculous! I feel sorry for the local businesses. Devastating news for them, and obviously not a care what happens to the local businesses in the interim.
9 months to replace is perfectly normal for 2 of these highly specified lifts. The old ones were probably 35+ years old and would have travelled the equivalent of approx 500,000 miles in their lifetime. If a car had that many miles on the clock it would need constant looking after. The 9 months would also include time required to remove the old ones? For a busy station, lifts are crucial to ensure correct flow of people traffic to and from the trains. No doubt the replacements will be state of the art and in line with current safety legislation improving safety and overall reliability. I’m sure LU have not taken this decision lightly and explored every other option before closing the station. Leaving 1 lift in service would be counter productive as it would take even longer to replace 2 and cause more disruption if the old one in service breaks down. I know the area well and it’s always busy. The shops get good footfall all year as its on a busy junction. I’m sure businesses will make their money back when more people travel through the station again (once it’s open) and have hiked up their prices!
TFL should compensate local businesses which can prove their business has fallen off.