London Underground’s Kentish Town station will close for up to a year from Monday 26 June, as engineers replace both its escalators.

Kentish Town station’s escalators are the most unreliable on London Underground.

Installed in 1997, they are bespoke to the station, which has made it harder to obtain parts for maintenance and repair. As a result, frequent escalator failures cause the station to close.

Over the next year, they will be replaced by new, high-performance escalators of the same model as used on the Elizabeth line and across London Underground. Transport for London (TfL) expects new escalators to last for around forty years.

During the temporary closure of Kentish Town Underground station, TfL will carry out other improvements, including removing the ticket office and realigning the ticket barriers to provide more space and extra ticket gates. TfL will also paint and deep-clean the station, and install new floor and wall tiling and improved signage installed.

Transport for London is advising passengers to use:

• Kentish Town Thameslink station (from where they will be charged the same as for a Tube journey)
• Tufnell Park Tube station for Northern line services, or Camden Town as an alternative on return journeys
• local bus routes 134 towards Tufnell Park (northbound) or 88, 134 and 214 towards Camden Town (southbound).

No major work is planned on these routes during the year that Kentish Town Tube station is closed.

Access to and from the Thameslink station platforms will be via the out-of-hours entrance, approximately twenty metres along Kentish Town Road from the Tube station entrance.

Tickets and Oyster top-ups will not be available at the station, so passengers will need to buy tickets or top up in advance online or at a nearby Oyster ticket outlet. TfL is reminding passengers to touch their Key card, Contactless or Oyster card on the validators at the temporary entrance / exit.

Kentish Town Thameslink station will be busier than usual during the Tube staiton’s closure, especially during peak hours, so it may take longer for passengers to reach or leave their platform. Thameslink trains and stations in central London may also be busier.

Esther Sharples, TfL’s Director of Asset Performance Delivery, said: “I’d like to apologise to our customers for the disruption and thank them in advance for their patience while we replace the escalators at Kentish Town station. They are the most unreliable on the Tube network and this essential work will improve journeys through Kentish Town station for many years to come. We explored all possible options to keep the Tube station open during this work but safety considerations and space constraints meant it wasn’t feasible.

“We are using the opportunity while the station is closed to make many other improvements which will make the station more spacious, easier to use and more welcoming for our customers.”

Jenny Saunders, Thameslink’s Customer Services Director, said: “We’re sorry for the inconvenience during this major TfL project, and I’m grateful to passengers for their patience. Please allow an extra few minutes to get to and from your Thameslink platform as the station will be busier than normal, especially in the evening peak, and the temporary access route is narrower. If you usually buy your ticket at Kentish Town, remember to buy it in advance while the ticket machines aren’t available. And please don’t forget to tap in and out when you’re using the temporary entrance.”