Residents living in a cut-off part of North London claim their ‘unreliable’ train service is frequently making them late for work. A local campaign is underway in Ponders End to increase the number of trains from two to three per hour to reflect the recent increase in demand.
Current service and overcrowding
The station, situated between Tottenham Hale and Enfield Lock on the Greater Anglia route to Hertford East, is currently only served by one train every 30 minutes. This results in the platform becoming overcrowded during peak hours, while passengers also claim the station is regularly skipped whenever there is disruption.
“The trains here are awful,” Becky Langdon told MyLondon while waiting on the platform at Ponders End. “I always check the times when I leave the house and get here to see it’s five or 10 minutes late. It means my daughter is often late to school because of the trains, as it always happens in the morning.”
Campaign for better service
Retired graphic designer Pete Middleton believes other parts of North London unfairly benefit from much better rail connections. “They built all these flats near the station with the idea that people could rely on public transport with no parking. The station isn’t fit for purpose. There’s a huge amount of people who rely on it and the platforms are busy throughout the day. It’s just not a good service when you consider other parts of Enfield like Southbury are much better served. Whenever there’s disruption at Liverpool Street or somewhere else we’re the first station that gets skipped by passing trains.”
Local resident Mike Cooper launched a survey last month about whether passengers believe services should be increased to one train every 20 minutes. The feedback to his poll, first reported by the Enfield Dispatch, highlighted overcrowding, long waits between trains, cancellations and increasing passenger numbers following housing growth in the area.
Residents' frustrations
Pamela Clements, who lives in a flat near the station, is among the residents who have grown frustrated with the constant train cancellations. “It’s not as important to me as I'm retired, but for people travelling to work it must be so frustrating,” she told MyLondon. “They get cancelled quite a lot, and we had problems at Stratford last week which left all the services disrupted. I think they should definitely increase train services. I often now have to take the 191 bus to Edmonton Green whenever there’s disruption as it has double the amount of trains.”
Crossrail 2 and future plans
Ponders End is situated on the proposed Crossrail 2 route which, if built, would provide trains up to every 10 minutes with a direct link to Tottenham Hale, Euston, Tottenham Court Road and Victoria. Frustratingly for Ponders End residents, the project was put on hold in 2020 due to funding issues. Crossrail 2 is unlikely to get the go-ahead anytime soon with Transport for London currently prioritising the approved DLR extension to Thamesmead, the West London Orbital Overground line, and expansion of the Bakerloo line to Lewisham.
Greater Anglia's response
Greater Anglia, which became part of the government-owned Great British Railways in October last year, confirmed there are no plans to increase the number of services from Ponders End. “We understand that passengers want services which are reliable, convenient and meet demand, and we regularly review our timetable to identify where improvements are possible and practical,” a spokesperson said. “Timetable changes are considered carefully across the wider network, taking into account customer demand, operational performance and the capacity available on the railway. We would encourage any customers experiencing particular issues with their journeys to get in touch with us directly, as their feedback helps inform our ongoing planning and service reviews.”
