{"id":123323,"date":"2025-05-22T19:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T19:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/123323\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T19:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T19:30:08","slug":"north-london-tube-station-to-finally-get-step-free-access-after-years-of-campaigning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/123323\/","title":{"rendered":"North London Tube station to finally get step-free access after ‘years of campaigning’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A North London Underground station will finally get major upgrades, including step-free access following years of campaigning by local politicians. Other changes include more tickets to reduce overcrowding and improvements to the toilets, although it will result in the closing down of a barber shop outside the station.<\/p>\n

The works to Alperton station are expected to start in 2026 after Brent Council<\/a> agreed a \u00a35 million payment towards the cost of the improvements at a recent Cabinet meeting (May 19), which will predominantly be funded by Transport for London (TfL). The station was selected alongside nine others back in 2023 as part of TfL\u2019s \u00a320m commitment to improve accessibility across the tube network.<\/p>\n

The proposals include installing a lift to the platforms to make the station fully accessible and reduce journey times for everyone, including those with mobility issues, parents with buggies, and older passengers. There will also be more ticket gates to reduce congestion and overcrowding at peak times, as well as upgrades to the toilet facilities.<\/p>\n

The improvements were deemed necessary due to the influx of new housing in the area, which has been allocated as a \u2018Growth Area\u2019 by the council and expected to deliver around 6,000 new homes once development works are complete. The Brent Liberal Democrats, who are the elected representatives in Alperton<\/a>, are claiming the \u201clong overdue\u201d changes are down to \u201cyears of persistent campaigning\u201d by the party.<\/p>\n

One of those is Cllr Hannah Martin, who has represented Alperton since 2022 and herself requires easier accessibility because of a visual impairment. She said: \u201cImproving accessibility in Alperton has been a priority of mine since being elected as a Liberal Democrat Councillor in 2022, including calling for funding contributions from Brent Council\u2019s Labour administration for step free access at Alperton station.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NorthAlperton Station Improvements. The Brent Liberal Democrats have claimed the changes are down to \u2018years of persistent campaigning\u2019 by local representatives. Image Credit: Cllr Charlie Clinton. Permission to use with all LDRS partners.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cAs an individual with a severe visual impairment and long term health conditions, I know first hand how important this is for residents for a whole variety of reasons and am thrilled that the funding commitments have been confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recently elected Liberal Democrat councillor for Alperton, Charlie Clinton, added: \u201cThis is a huge win for local residents who\u2019ve been ignored for too long. Alperton has been the site of hundreds of new flats, and while we do need more homes, this has strained local services to the limit. These upgrades are way past due.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are 22 underground stations in Brent<\/a> but only six of these have some form of step free access. Alperton Station is currently used by over 3 million passengers each year and considered one of the \u2018most strategically important\u2019 by the council. The project is projected to be completed in 2027, with the station remaining open whilst the work is carried out.<\/p>\n

The current estimated cost of the station access improvements is between \u00a310m and \u00a316m, with Brent Council agreeing to fund up to 50 per cent of the cost, capped at \u00a35m, through the use of Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (SCIL), and TfL funding the rest.<\/p>\n

Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Mili Patel, called it a \u201creally good example\u201d of how SCIL should be used, whilst Cabinet Member for Public Health, Cllr Neil Nerva, added that he hopes it is \u201cthe first of a number of places which will see step-free access\u201d as a result of growth.<\/p>\n

Council Leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, said the project \u201cdemonstrates that when we are doing development in any area that we are taking into account the need for investment\u201d in infrastructure, such as stations, schools, and GPs. He added: \u201cWe will absolutely make sure that [these] are the kind of projects that come forward in order to make sure that our communities benefit from the opportunities that arise from regeneration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Never miss another news story, subscribe to Harrow Online for FREE!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North London Underground station will finally get major upgrades, including step-free access following years of campaigning by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[54795,54796,748,393,4884,7833,257,12,183,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-123323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-alperton","9":"tag-brent-news","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-harrow-online","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-travel","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114553148246895545","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}