Lift replacement at Caledonian Road tube station completed – without an 8 month station closure!

Caledonian and Holloway councillors: Una O’Halloran, Diarmaid Ward, Paul Smith and Paul Convery with Claudia Webbe (lead councillor for transport)

Caledonian ward councillors joined their Holloway ward colleagues this week to mark the completion of lift replacement work at Caledonian Road underground station which was undertaken whilst keeping the station open throughout.

Transport for London (TfL) originally planned to close the station completely for 8 months from January 2016 – causing massive disruption to local residents and businesses, as well as significantly impacting residents with disabilities and mobility issues who would have had to travel far further to make journeys on the underground network.

However, thanks to intervention by local councillors – including the threat of legal action by the Council – and a petition supported by local residents, TfL was forced to radically changed its plans and agreed with the Council that the station could remain open whilst the lifts were replaced on after the other, leaving one lift in operation throughout.

Holloway ward councillor, Cllr Paul Smith, commented: “Keeping the station open was a great victory and just goes to show what a determined bunch of people can do when we stand up against decisions that are clearly unfair. I want to thank the 8,000 residents who signed petitions against the closure, those who attended public meetings and local businesses who spoke with us about the devastating impact closing the station would have had on their businesses and our community. The new lifts look great, and I want to also thank TfL for seeing sense and for completing these important works.”

Caledonian Ward councillor Una O’Halloran added: “Nearly 10,000 people use the tube station every day. TfL had a plan to lay-on replacement bus services down to Kings Cross during the closure. This would have added to the congestion down Caledonian Road, our local high street, which already has 18,000 vehicles a day.”

In November 2015, TfL announced plans to close the station for 8 months from January 2016 whilst both lifts were replaced. Swift action by local councillors saw several public meetings organised before Christmas to raise awareness of the issue and to organise the campaign against the plans. A petition was presented to Jeanette Arnold AM at City Hall at the end of November 2015, calling on TfL to rethink its plans.

Shortly before Christmas, Islington Council began the process to call for a Judicial Review of TfL’s decision and the way it was taken, particularly focusing on TfL’s failure to adequately consider the impact of the closure on disabled passengers and passengers with mobility issues. The threat of legal action meant that in January 2016, TfL announced it was reviewing its plans and the works were put on hold. In March 2016, TfL announced that it had agreed with the council’s view that the works could be completed whilst keeping the station open and a revised programme of works would take place over the next 18 months.