Jerry Lay, who has run Jerry's coffee kiosk opposite Angel Tube station for six years, expects his trade to drop by at least 10 per cent when Transport for London makes the station exit-only on weekends and bank holidays from January 2. The change, driven by difficulties maintaining the station's escalators, has drawn criticism from Islington Council leader Una O'Halloran, who accused TfL of waiting until the escalators failed before devising a plan.
Escalator failures prompt weekend closures
From 2027, passengers will not be able to enter Angel station at weekends and bank holidays due to escalator maintenance issues. The central escalator has been out of action since April, and there are concerns the other two could fail within the next couple of years, according to London Centric.
The Northern line station has the three longest escalators on the London Underground, which have been in service for 35 years. TfL has attributed the lack of earlier action to the wider repairs backlog caused by Government funding cuts, a position O'Halloran has criticised.
Vendor voices concerns over communication and trade
Jerry Lay told MyLondon: "The station is fundamentally unreliable anyway. It shouldn't be; the sudden closures make it really hard to predict how busy I'll be on a given day." He believes TfL has not communicated well enough with businesses near Angel station that will be most affected by partial and full closures.
"How long will the station be exit-only at weekends? Is there a plan to increase this?" he said. "This is what I haven't heard. I'm already facing high taxation, so I could do without 10 per cent losses, particularly on a Saturday, which can be extremely good. The area becomes a lot more unattractive if you can't come to it easily and leave easily."
Another coffee vendor directly outside Angel station described his trade as a 'three-hour business', with a considerable majority of customers visiting between 6am and 9am. Although his weekday commuter trade won't be affected, he fears a full lengthy closure could have a disastrous impact.
TfL outlines mitigation plans
Richard Jones, the director of asset performance delivery for the London Underground, said the escalator renewal project is challenging and expensive, so the weekend closures will help extend the escalators' working life as long as possible. Design work on replacements will begin this autumn.
"I understand that any disruption to the station will have an impact on customers, businesses and the local community and we will do all we can to work closely with local stakeholders to ensure that we mitigate the disruption as much as possible," Mr Jones added. During the closure, passengers are advised to use King's Cross St Pancras Tube station, situated 1km away, which can be reached via bus routes 30, 73, 205, 214 and 476.
