Plans to provide step-free access at an east London railway station are still stuck on the drawing board half a decade after being announced, transport bosses have admitted.
The promise of installing lifts at Hackney Downs Overground station was made in April 2019 by Theresa May’s Government as part of the Access for All programme, funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) and managed by Network Rail.
The scheme was expected to be complete by March 2024 at the latest, but it has now been confirmed that work is still yet to begin at the station.
It comes after local London Assembly member Sem Moema urged Network Rail last year “to get a move on and sort out the issues” holding back the project - which include problems related to land ownership and the fact that costs have risen sharply since 2019.
In August last year, mayor Sadiq Khan’s office said that Transport for London (TfL) was “currently in discussions with the DfT and Network Rail on the most cost-effective way to deliver the scheme”. One year later however, negotiations between the parties are still ongoing.
Commenting on the situation this week, Ms Moema said: “My constituents were promised step-free access five years ago but they're still waiting. This is unacceptable.
“Dozens of other stations around London are getting step free access. I don't see why Hackney should be denied the investment other areas are getting, especially when we were promised these improvements half a decade ago.
“I'm frustrated that the DfT and TfL don't seem to see the urgency in these upgrades, which will help hundreds of Londoners get around quickly and independently. There's funding in the Access for All programme - they just need to get on with it.”
Currently, only the station’s southbound platform has step-free access, made possible thanks to a walkway and lift link at the nearby Hackney Central station. The northbound platform has no step-free access.
A Network Rail spokesman said: “We recognise the importance of accessibility for all passengers and are fully committed to delivering step-free access at Hackney Downs station.
“We are carefully assessing a range of potential options and their associated costs. This work is being undertaken in close partnership with TfL and Arriva Rail London.”
Geoff Hobbs, TfL’s director of public service planning, said: “We remain committed to providing step-free access at Hackney Downs station and are doing everything we can to overcome a number of challenges we’ve faced delivering this.
“This includes issues surrounding land ownership and more recently the rising costs of the project due to inflationary pressures.”
He added that TfL was continuing to work with both the DfT and Network Rail “to reach an agreement on funding to enable the works to commence as soon as possible”.
Hackney Downs is not the only London station to have had upgrades announced five years ago which are running behind schedule.
Ms Moema’s colleague on the Assembly, Anne Clarke, complained in March this year that “not a brick” had been laid to deliver similar improvements at Cricklewood and Mill Hill Broadway.
Upgrades promised in 2019 are also understood to be either incomplete or unstarted at Barnes, Hither Green, Seven Sisters and Wandsworth Town.
Two new lifts did however open at Isleworth station in July this year. Over the last year and a half, step-free access has also been delivered at Catford, Finsbury Park, Petts Wood, and Streatham stations.
