In 2017, Transport for London (TfL) consulted on plans to build a new entrance in Buck Street for the Northern line station.
This was to be built on the northern side of the road on the site of a former infant school.
In 2023, TfL’s wholly-owned property company, Places for London, also bought Buck Street Market on the other side of the road.
The planned new entrance was intended to ease overcrowding and make the station step-free.
The market site was subsequently leased to pop-up operator Boxpark, which opened in September last year.
An application has now been submitted to Camden Council to allow the market to operate until 2032, five years longer than currently planned.
In planning documents submitted to the local authority to support the application, Boxpark says: “In time this site will be required by TfL as part of a major refurbishment of Camden Town Underground station, which is expected to include a new above-ground development.
“These works are not scheduled to commence for a number of years.”
One objection to the application on Camden’s planning website claims this suggests it is unlikely that work on the new station entrance – and making the station step-free – will begin before the start of the next decade.
They said: “This would mean that Camden Town Tube station will not be able to be made step-free for another seven years.
“This is not acceptable. Buck Street Market is the proposed new entrance for the station which is in dire need of renovation, increase in capacity, and modernisation.”
But TfL has now told Ham and High that the market extension would not impact its ability to upgrade the station earlier than 2032, as its agreement with Boxpark can be terminated at short notice.
A spokesperson added that TfL does not currently have funding to build the new entrance and ticket hall with step-free access.
When TfL consulted on its plans to upgrade the station eight years ago, it said it hoped the work would be finished by 2025 or 2026.
At the time, transport bosses said that the proposals would see the station “treble in size” with new lifts and escalators to “reduce current crowding”.
Currently measures such as making the station, which serves more than 30 million passengers every year, exit-only are regularly used to ease overcrowding.
A Places for London spokesperson said: “While TfL continues to seek opportunities to deliver an upgrade at Camden Town station, we are pleased to continue to bring new experiences for all to enjoy at Buck Street Market.”
Boxpark’s head of development Matthew McMillan added: “We are aware and fully support TfL’s aspirations to redevelop the station and TfL retain full flexibility to bring forward any proposals it has in future.”
The operator’s planning application also seek permission to replace the market’s temporary roof with a “more permanent cover” in the form of a Victorian Arcade.
