Tube station revamp on the cards if route is split in two

http://www.thecnj.co.uk/camden/08230...082307_17.html

quote
Congestion fears as transport chiefs investigate changes to ageing
Northern Line

CAMDEN Town Tube station is being eyed up for redevelopment again - as
Transport for London finalise plans to split the Northern Line into
two separate routes.
Planners believe creating two distinct services would allow more
trains to run every hour.
The strategy follows a series of private meetings at TfL over the
summer which has seen the plans discussed at the highest level.
Its success, however, hinges on Camden Town underground station - the
congested stop where the two parts of the Northern Line overlap -
being redeveloped.
A draft document reveals how one branch would run from Edgware to
Kennington, while another would go from High Barnet through to
Morden.
TfL believe this would allow them to increase capacity from around 20
trains per hour to as many as 30.
John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, threw out plans to
redevelop Camden Town station in 2005.
Transport chiefs had wanted to seize land surrounding the station to
build a seven-storey tower of shops and flats. Market traders who
would have lost their stalls, the neighbouring Electric Ballroom
nightclub, residents and Camden Council opposed the plan.
A TfL spokesman said: "We would need to refurbish the station to make
it (split the Northern Line) possible, and that would cost a lot of
money. This is a long-term aspiration. We think this would be a good
thing for the Northern Line."
He added that the current station lay-out could not cope with the
extra traffic and that TfL were currently looking into how feasible
the plans were.
The spokesman added: "The Northern Line is one of the most challenging
on the network in terms of its age, how much it is used and its
design."
Critics say splitting the line is unworkable and will lead to
dangerous numbers of people changing at Camden Town.
Conservative Greater London Authority member for Camden and Barnet
Brian Coleman said: "This will lead to trouble at Camden Town. It will
take at least five to 10 years to redevelop the station and I have
heard TfL want to do this as soon as possible. It will make Camden
Town unbearably busy, and people do not want to be forced into
changing at Camden Town."
He added: "It is a cover for reducing the service. The service was run
like this in the past and they changed it to increase trains. Why
would it work the other way round?"
Andrew Bosi, of transport pressure group Friends of Capital Transport,
said the jury was out on whether it would improve the service.
He said: "The sticking point is congestion. When they wanted to
increase the size of the Tube station there before they were too
greedy - they wanted to take half of Camden with them.
"However, if they do plan to have more people changing there, they
will have to work out a way of making sure the station can cope."

unquote

Maybe an ELL extension beyond Finsbury Park could prove useful after
all?