If you’re an avid Secret London reader, you’ll know that the record-breakingly lengthy escalators at Angel tube station have reached a bit of a bump in the road recently. Having been conveying commuters from pavement to platform for well over three decades now, the escalators at the north London travel hub are in rather desperate need of some TLC. And in a bid ease a bit of the pressure that the 35-year-old escalators are facing, Transport for London has decided to make the station exit-only on weekends and bank holidays from the start of 2027.
From January 2 until further notice, the station will operate as normal on weekdays. But on weekends and bank holidays, passengers will only be able to use Angel station as an exit. The station features two banks of escalators; one connecting the ticket hall to the middle concourse and another linking the middle concourse and the platform. The former – at a whopping 200-feet-long – is the longest escalator on the entire transport network.
Due to the age and length of Angel’s escalators, they’re proving fairly difficult to repair – and as they become less reliable (and more expensive to maintain), TfL has made this decision in an effort to extend the life-span of the escalators.
One of the station’s escalators has actually been out of action since April due to deterioration. If both of the other escalators were to follow suit, the station would have to close to all customers as the escalators are too long to operate as a staircase.
Once the exit-only system is in place, passengers can use King’s Cross St Pancras and Old Street stations instead. Both of them are approximately a 20 minute walk (or a short bus ride) from Angel.
Richard Jones, Director of Asset Performance Delivery for London Underground, said: “The escalators at Angel have been in service for almost 35 years and are becoming less reliable and increasingly difficult to maintain. Their size means renewal or replacement is a challenging, expensive project and we are currently exploring all options possible to extend their working life.
“Making the station exit-only during specific periods will allow us to extend the working life of the escalators and give us more time to plan our next steps, with design work on replacing the escalators to 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.”
