New trains for Piccadilly line require Caledonian Road station closure until 21st November

TfL is rebuilding the platforms at Caledonian Road tube station causing partial closure of the station. This is preparation for the next generation of trains introduced onto the Piccadilly line from next year. Platforms have to be modified because the new trains have lower floors.

Works are being staggered so that only one platform at a time is closed for this rebuilding. The northbound platform (towards Finsbury Park) is closed from 14th to 31st October; and the southbound platform towards Kings Cross is closed from 4th to 21st November.

The works at Caledonian Road underground station are part of a major upgrade to the Piccadilly line. TfL is investing £3billion in new trains and station upgrades. There will also be some closures on the line over the next few month, for details click here.

The new trains will replace rolling stock that dates back to the mid 1970s. Built by Siemens, the 94 new trains are designed with “walk-through” carriages and fitted with air conditioning (for the first time on a TfL “deep” tube line). The trains will have wider doors, greater headroom and will carry 10% more passengers. The new units use 20% less power but accelerate more rapidly and have higher top speeds. Alongside new signalling, this means journey times will also be reduced. To read more about the whole line upgrade, click here.

TfL has said the work schedule is “aligned to Arsenal Men’s & Women’s home fixture list” because Caledonian Road is one of the stations servicing the Emirates Stadium. However, the works inevtiably over-lap with at least one home game, Arsenal’s Premier League fixture against Liverpool on 27th October.

Previous station upgrade works at Caledonian Road have been quite controversial. In 2016 TfL proposed a full station closure for 8 months to replace both of the lifts. Islington Council objected firmly, TfL relented and the lifts were replaced one at a time.

Cllr Paul Convery comments: “Disruption to services from Caledonian Road underground station is an inconvenience, obviously. But it’s worth it. The Piccadilly line upgrade is another great investment in London’s transport infrastructure and is terrific news for our part of North London where Kings Cross, Caledonian Road and Holloway Road underground stations are vital stations for us.”