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Kentish Town Tube station reopens after 18 months

BBC Kentish Town station platform showing roundel and woman walking past a sign warning of the closureBBC
The Northern line station has been closed for 18 months

Kentish Town Tube station is due to reopen on 23 December - before closing early the next day for Christmas.

Originally due to reopen in June 2024 following repairs to what Transport for London (TfL) labelled "the most unreliable" escalators on the network, the date was pushed back twice due to degrading concrete in the ceiling and floor.

Although Thameslink trains have been calling at the railway station throughout the past 18 months, passengers have not been able to change on to the London Underground there - and still won't be able to until 30 December due to rail engineering works.

The prolonged closure of the Northern line station, in north-west London, has been criticised by businesses.

Yellow sign 'Northern line trains will not stop at Kentish Town until the end of the year' with graffiti which says 'which year?'
Graffiti has appeared on signs outside the station asking which year it will reopen

Although Kentish Town is due to reopen on 23 December, it will close early on Christmas Eve and reopen on Boxing Day, with a Sunday service.

As part of the work to replace escalators installed in 1997, TfL decided to carry out renovations of the old ticket hall and install more ticket barriers.

"The condition of some structural elements of the station, which could not have been inspected prior to the start of the project, has been assessed as beyond repair," papers provided to TfL's programmes and investment committee reveal.

"The team has had to increase the project scope to include the replacement of these parts."

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