Works on the station upgrade were expected to start in the summer, but ‘detailed’ designs are not yet finished, reports Marco Marcelline
Major works to make Leyton Station step-free have been pushed back, as Transport for London (TfL) is still to award a construction contract.
In December last year, TfL announced that improvement work on the Central Line station would begin in “summer 2024”, with a view to opening the new facility in “2026”.
The upgrade project, financed by government Levelling Up funding worth £13.7million, and £9m from Waltham Forest Council, will see the station gain a new ticket hall, two new staircases, and two lifts.
A TfL spokesman updated the Echo on the planned upgrade, saying that “detailed design work” was “nearing completion” ahead of the construction contract being awarded “later this year”.
TfL had previously projected the design work to finish in early 2024, with the construction contract awarded in the summer.
When asked to provide a clearer picture of when TfL expects the construction contract to be awarded, the spokesman said that he couldn’t because a “number of factors are dependent” on when the contract will be let. The spokesman declined to clarify what those “factors” were when pressed by the Echo.
TfL still expects the works to be completed in 2026, the spokesman added. Leyton Station will stay open throughout the construction works.
Currently, Chingford, Highams Park, and Walthamstow Queens Road have step free access in the borough. Adding Leyton to that list would mean the borough will have a total of four step-free stations.
Colindale Station, on the Edgware branch of the Northern line in Barnet, will also be made step-free along with Leyton.
The Barnet station is currently closed until December 2024 while the major upgrade work, which will see the station gain a larger ticket hall, continues.
Meanwhile, a similar step-free upgrade of Snaresbrook Station in Redbridge has been indefinitely paused due to the “impact of the pandemic and restricted short-term funding from the former government”, TfL said.
A TfL spokesperson said: “Today, more than a third of Underground stations across the city provide step-free access. TfL is committed to making the capital’s transport network as accessible as possible. Progress will depend on deliverability and TfL’s future funding position, with schemes prioritised where there is third party funding available.”
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