DANGEROUS overcrowding at Camden Town Tube station could take as long as 10 years to put right, Transport for London bosses have revealed as they draw up plans for a £250m revamp of the congested transport hub.

The New Journal has learned that plans are being drawn up to overhaul and enlarge the station – so busy at  weekends that travellers have to use Chalk Farm or Mornington Crescent stations to board trains. But transport bosses do not believe the work will be finished until 2024. 

The plans could mean creating a new entrance and exit at a Victorian warehouse yard in Buck Street, north of the existing station entrance. Buck Street would be closed to traffic so passengers could spill out onto a new pedestrianised square. 

A TfL spokesman said that designs being developed will include a new underground ticket hall, step-free access and new tunnels to platforms. 

The work will mean it will have taken a generation to solve the huge issues of access to the station. 

In 2002, Tube bosses planned a huge revamp of the interchange as part of a seven-storey complex of shops, homes and offices, which would have meant demolishing the Electric Ballroom venue, knocking down United Trinity Reformed Church and the loss of the market. 

But the plans were finally scrapped after the then deputy prime minister John Prescott ordered a public inquiry and found against the scheme.

London Underground development boss David Hughes said the new project would be “future-proofed” to deal with expected passenger rises. 

“Camden Town Underground station is extremely busy with over 80,000 people using it every day,” he said. “With population growth on the rise it is set to get busier, and rebuilding the station will be crucial to provide an improved transport service to the local area and to ensure we can accommodate future demand on the Northern line.

“We are in the early stages of planning the station’s upgrade. We have developed designs which have evolved over the past couple of years based on initial consultation with the local authority and other key stakeholders. We intend to consult further on this over the next year and in advance of seeking planning and Transport and Works Act consents.   

“When the upgrade is completed by 2024, Camden Town station will be step-free, will have a new second ticket hall and customers’ journeys through the station will be quicker and more pleasant.”

Camden Town Unlimited business group chief executive Simon Pit­keathley said that with visitor numbers due to rise further as Camden Town undergoes new developments at Hawley Wharf, Camden Lock, Buck Street market and the Stables, it was vital that extra capacity was found. 

He said: “There is no question we have needed a new Tube station for years. We need to ensure new ways of getting in and out as quickly and efficiently as we can.”

He believed that creating an entrance in Buck Street would help funnel visitors to other parts of the neighbourhood. “It will also improve access to parts of Kentish Town,” he said.

With the Northern line carrying a million people a day – a quarter of Tube journeys – Mr Pitkeathley said the new station would have a ripple effect across the network, improving transport for residents as well as visitors. 

He added: “It is not just about the visitor economy. It is about people who live and work here. We have four platforms opening out into a little box underground. Having extra space will be good for travellers as it will allow trains to move in and out of the station faster.”