‘Time to dust down the proposals for Camden Town station and get on with expanding it’

• THE failure to address the overcrowding at Camden Town Underground station beyond closing it at peak user times is scandalous.

Detailed plans were prepared years ago to expand the station to meet the demand and those plans, which included the purchase of the old Hawley School buildings, have never been implemented.

This is despite the visibly dangerous high passenger traffic that continues to use the station. Camden Council limply says that all it can do is lobby Transport for London. They must do more.

When recently granting conditional consent for further substantial development at Camden Lock that includes a ferris wheel, the council missed a perfect opportunity to put real pressure on TfL by failing to make the expansion of the key transport access point to the proposed development a condition of the consent.

Camden Lock is one of London’s biggest tourist attractions and should be officially recognised as such by the allocation of public money to build the infrastructure that is needed. Tourism is one of the biggest drivers of London’s economy.

This is the time to dust down the proposals for Camden Town station and get on with expanding it before all those valuable visitors vote with their feet and decide Camden Lock is too difficult to get to.

ROGER WINFIELD
Patshull Road, NW5