Can the old York Way underground station get re-opened?

“Why doesn’t Islington get the old Piccadilly line station on York Way re-opened?” It’s a good question that we are often asked.

The surface building is in good condition and has been used over the years as storage base for fire equipment, furniture and other surplus tube kit. The platforms are still in place and the old lift shafts are structurally sound. The below ground infrastructure is maintained because the station still has a function in extreme circumstances: there’s a spiral stairway which can be used for emergency train evacuation

However, the station itself has been closed for 92 years! It closed due to lack of demand from the “sparsely populated, primarily industrial area that surrounded the station.” Of course that isn’t true any more. It’s located right alongside the huge Kings Cross Central redevelopment which houses several thousand new residents, scores of businesses and is marketed as a “visitor destination”.

Islington Council has held a long term ambition to re-open the station. This was first stated clearly in January 2005 when the Council responded to Camden’s Kings Cross redevelopment plans. Later that year, Islington Council and TfL commissioned a “pre-feasibility” business case study by a consultant engineering firm, Halcrow.

Halcrow concluded that a scheme to re-open would cost £21m (in 2005 prices). But this preceded the redevelopment of Kings Cross Central and so it concluded the station re-opening would not be economically justified because the number of potential passengers was estimated to be quite low. The 2005 study admitted there were “considerable uncertainties” about passenger number forecasts! If the assessment were done today, it might reach a very different conclusion. But rather ominously the report concluded that, if there were higher numbers, the station would need a complete rebuild and the cost could be very much higher.

Over the past decade, Cally Councillors have pushed TfL to review the 2005 assessment but TfL says the cost/benefit ratio is too low in a variety of different scenarios. Even worse, according to their experts, re-opening the station would not relieve congestion at Kings Cross. If it did, that would be a powerful argument. However, TfL would still be reluctant to increase journey times on the Piccadilly Line – even though the gap between Caledonian Road underground station and Kings Cross is unusually long. However, TfL doesn’t want to add extra time to the journey (caused by having an extra stop) with King’s Cross station so near.

So, is there an alternative the surface building could be used for? It’s not a listed building but it has considerable heritage value, being a classic Edwardian period, maroon tiled facade designed by Leslie Green. The tube station is right next door to a site which will soon house a landmark science and technology centre and this includes a big upgrade to the surrounding area. The developer, Delancey, has a long track record working with TfL on some of its surplus sites so there is a good opportunity a scheme can be designed to repurpose the old tube station.

Cllr Paul Convery comments: “We’ve been trying to re-open this old station for a very long time now. It seems quite unlikely TfL can be persuaded. So let’s bring the building back into a new use that reflects its location in an area of housing and employment growth. The tube station also offers a great opportunity for waste heat extraction. Islington and TfL collaborated on such a scheme to capture waste heat from the underground and use it as one of several heat sources in the Bunhill energy network. This takes heat from the Northern Line tunnels through a ventilation shaft on City Road. East of York Way is a high density residential neighbourhood which already has a communal heating system. Islington Council has plans to extent this energy network and connect-up several other housing estates. Excess heat from the Piccadilly Line could be a big low carbon contribution to that heat network.”

Councillors have also begun to push for a new station for the Overground on York Way where the North London Line crosses York Way. And Camden Council agrees! There’s been a big increase in new homes on the Maiden Lane estate and rapid employment growth and intensification in the industrial sites around Tileyard, Brewery, Blundell Roads and Vale Royal.